Isolation, prevalence, and drug susceptibility patterns of Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Mansoura city.

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus, particularly MRSA strains, are common multidrug resistant pathogens worldwide. Treatment for nosocomial infections has been complicated by MRSA because it has a potent resistance strategy that enables it to be less susceptible to all β-lactam antibiotics. The principal objective of this investigation was to isolate methicillin resistant S. aureus from different clinical specimens and determine both the antibiotic susceptibility pattern and the prevalence rate of MRSA. Various clinical specimens were collected and cultivated on mannitol salt agar and blood agar, and biochemical tests using catalase and coagulase tests revealed that the isolates were S. aureus. The disc diffusion method was used to screen MRSA isolates using 30 μg cefoxitin and confirmed by the detection of the mec A gene. The prevalence of MRSA, the percentage of Multidrug Resistant (MDR) isolates, and the value of Multiple Antibiotic Resistance Indices (MARI) for isolates were determined. Of the 150 clinical samples evaluated, S. aureus was detected in 45 (30 %) samples. The highest rate of S. aureus isolation was 31.1% from wound swab samples. 60% of S. aureus isolates were MRSA isolates, and 55.5% were found to be MDR. 70% of MRSA isolates have a MARI value greater than 0.2. This investigation exhibited a high MRSA prevalence rate and also multidrug resistance to several tested antibiotics in a hospital setting. Thus, restricted antibiotic use and infection control became necessary to reduce MRSA infections.