A Survey of Staphylococcus Isolates amongst Commonly used Fomites of Hospital Personnel with Special Reference to Methicillin Resistance

Multidrug resistant Staphylococcus isolates in hospitals have been recognized as one of the major challenges in the hospital infection control. Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus spp. present in hospital personnel's may act as carriers and can serve as a focus of nosocomial spread of multidrug resistant Staphylococci in tertiary level hospitals. The objective of the study was to find the prevalence of Staphylococcus spp. carriage amongst the fomites commonly used by hospital personnel with special emphasis on methicillin resistance. Bacteriological sampling of commonly used fomites of the hospital personnel involved in patient care were done. Isolates were identified by standard bacteriological methods up to species level. Each of the Staphylococcus isolates was screened for methicillin resistance using cefoxitin disc. Amongst the fomites screened mobile phones and pens were the largest number of items screened. Out of the 250 samples included in the study, 122 showed growth of Staphylococcus, out of which 21 were Staphylococcus aureus and 101 were Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus (CONS). Out of these 11 were Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and 46 were Methicillin resistant Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus (MRCoNS). Presence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus provides a possible source of hospital acquired infection and in order to curtail this menace a periodic surveillance and prompt necessary action is necessary.