Indian Journal of Public Health Research & Development
  • Year: 2014
  • Volume: 5
  • Issue: 1

Colonization with Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus among Health Care Personnel in a Tertiary Care Hospital, Andhrapradesh

  • Author:
  • S Sreedevi1,, K Madhusudhan Reddy2, K Nagamani3, N K Saxena4
  • Total Page Count: 5
  • DOI:
  • Page Number: 136 to 140

1Asst. Professor, Dept. of Microbiology, Santhiram Medical College, Nandyal, A.P.

2Assoc.Professor, Dept. of Anaesthesiology, Santhiram Medical College, Nandyal, A.P.

3Professor, Dept of Microbiology, Gandhi Medical College, Secundrabad, AP

4Rtd Professor & HOD, Dept of Microbiology, Gandhi Medical College, Secundrabad, AP

*Corresponding author: S Sreedevi, D/O S. Kasi Reddy, H.NO: 26–470, Beside Post Office, RS Road, Nandyal, Kurnool (Dt), Andhra Pradesh. Email: sridevikatha@gmail.com

Online published on 23 January, 2014.

Abstract

This study was carried out to assess the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus carriage

among healthcare workers and their antibiogram with special emphasis on methicillin resistance.

A total of 123 healthcare workers (HCW) were selected by random sequential sampling, from various specialties like surgical wards, medical wards, high risk areas like ICU, NICU and postoperative wards of Gandhi medical college and hospital. Specimens included swabs from anterior nares, skin surface over the dorsum of the hand, nailbeds, and scalphair of HCWs. Samples were collected using sterile cotton swabs and inoculated on to the relevant media. Isolates were identified by standard methods up to species level. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed according to standardized disc diffusion Kirby-bauer method. Each of the isolate was screened for methicillin resistance using oxacillin disc on mullerhinton agar plate followed by MIC for methicillin and cefoxitin susceptibility test by disc diffusion method.

34.14% of the HCW were found to be colonized with Staphylococcus aureus and 3.17% of them with methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Colonization was predominant among female HCW (52%), nursing staff (37%) and those above the age group of 45 years (54%).

HCW colonized with MRSA strains may act as carriers and can serve as a focus of nosocomial spread of multidrug resistant staphylococci in tertiary level hospitals and cause problem to hospital infection control programme.

Keywords

MRSA, HCW, Colonization