Screening for MRSA Carriers among Health Care Workers in a Tertiary Care Centre
Abstract
Objective: The present study was conducted to evaluate the rate of nasal carriage of Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus among health care workers in our hospital with an aim to prevent health care associated infections.
Background: MRSA colonization precedes infection, anterior nares being the ecological niche of Staphylococcus aureus. Carriage of Staphylococcus aureus in the nose appears to play a key role in the epidemiology and pathogenesis of infection. MRSA is usually introduced into an institution by a colonized or infected patient or health care worker.
Methods: A total of 100 nasal swabs were collected out of which 33 were doctors and 67 were nursing students and staffs. Pre-moistened sterile swabs were used for sample collection. Culture was done in blood agar and mannitol salt agar, incubated at 37oc for 24 hrs. Staphylococcus aureus was identified by standard methods according to CLSI guidelines. Methicillin resistance was detected by using cefoxitin disc 30µg on Muller Hinton agar.
Results: Out of 100 samples screened, 34 (63%) strains of Staphylococcus aureus were isolated, of which 4(4%) were resistant to Methicillin and 30(30%) were sensitive to Methicillin. The overall carriage rate of MRSA in our study 4% with the highest rate being seen among the nursing students.
Conclusion: Our study revealed that nursing staff were the potential colonizers of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus. They may serve as the reservoir and disseminator of MRSA which needs screening for prevention of nosocomial infections.
Keywords: MRSA, Staphylococcus aureus, nasal carriage, colonization.
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