Nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus by medical students: Assessment of antibiotic susceptibility and risk factors

Abstract

Objective: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is the leading vector for both hospital-sourced and population-sourced infections globally and nasal carriage may be responsible for these serious infections. The aim of this study was to assess the nasal S. aureus carriage rates, antibiotic susceptibility and risk factors among preclinical period medical students.Method: A total of 183 preclinical period students from Ahi Evran University Faculty of Medicine voluntarily participated in our study. They were requested to complete a survey form containing questions about demographic information, hygiene habits and medical history and possible risk factors were recorded. S. aureus isolates proliferating from nasal swab culture samples were studied with antibiotic susceptibility tests.Results: Of the total of 183 students, 39 (21.4%) had S. aureus proliferation identified from nasal swab samples. None of these isolates were methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Antibiotic susceptibility tests found highest resistance against penicillin (85%). There were negative correlations between nasal spray use and allergy history with nasal S. aureus carriage.Conclusions: Medical students may each be mobile sources of bacteria in hospitals, especially as MRSA carriers. According to our results, it is necessary to note the importance of training and standard infection control precautions to prevent the increase in MRSA carriage rates in the clinical period as none of our preclinical period students carried MRSA. Advanced studies are important to monitor carriage rates.