Prevalence of nasal colonization of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus among healthcare workers, at a tertiary care hospital in South India

Background: Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has emerged as an important nosocomial pathogen. Asymptomatic colonization among healthcare workers is the major source of MRSA in hospital environment. There is paucity of information on carriage of MRSA by healthcare workers in developing nations. Aim of this study was to determine nasal carriage rate of MRSA in healthcare workers and the antibiotic sensitivity of the isolates. Methods: 300 nasal swabs were collected from doctors and health care workers. All the isolates were identified by standard methods and antibiotic sensitivity was performed by Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method. Methicillin resistance was identified by combined oxacillin and cefoxitin disk diffusion method. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the isolates was determined by microbroth dilution method. Results were interpreted as per clinical laboratory standard institute (CLSI) guidelines. Results: Out of 300 healthcare workers, 32 (10.7%) turned out to be MRSA carriers. The prevalence in doctors was 5.7% and among paramedical personnel was 15.0%. Out of 32 MRSA, only 2 (6.3%) isolates were resistant to vancomycin. Conclusion: Screening of healthcare workers will better control the incidence of this dangerous pathogen and will provide some measures in control of nosocomial infections. The presence of methicillin resistance may cause problems in hospital infection control programs and may indicate emerging issues. Regular surveillance of hospital acquired infections, monitoring of antimicrobial susceptibility pattern and formulation of a definite antibiotic policy may be helpful.