Prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in various clinical samples in a tertiary-care hospital

Abstract

Background: Staphylococci are the normal inhabitants of human skin and mucous membranes. Staphylococci play a role in bacteremia, endocarditis, urinary tract infection, surgical site infections, and so on. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is prevalent worldwide and is an important cause of nosocomial infections, resulting in an increased morbidity and mortality in the hospital settings worldwide. Objective: To know the prevalence of MRSA among hospitalized patients and to guide in minimizing the spread of systemic or deep MRSA infections in high-risk patients, such as those in the intensive care unit (ICU) or other key clinical area Materials and Methods: This study was carried out in the Department of Microbiology in BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad. Various clinical samples sent for culture sensitivity examination were collected over a period of 6 months from June to November 2012. Staphylococcus was identified using standard methods. Then, methicillin-resistant strains were identified by using screening and confirmatory techniques recommended by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). Data were collected, and the prevalence was estimated. Result: We collected a total of 5,046 samples, and Staphylococcus were identified from 232 samples. Of the 232 samples containing S. aureus recovered from the different clinical samples, 20.25% (47) of them were found to be methicillin resistant. Conclusion: The health-care institutions face constant and evermore problems, because of MRSA. Minimizing the emergence of this organism and its spread remain to be the challenges that need to be addressed. A regular surveillance of hospital-associated infections is mandatory.