Prevalence of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Among Patients attending different hospitals in Khartoum State

Abstract

This study was carried out in Khartoum State, during the period from December 2003 to October 2005, to study the prevalence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among patients attending different hospitals and evaluate the in vitro activity of penicillin, amoxicillin, cephalexin, cloxacillin, methicillin and vancomycin by using National Committee on Clinical of Laboratory Standard (NCCLS) modified Kirby-Bauer Disc Diffusion Technique against S. aureus strains isolated from patients attending different hospitals. This study was done on 248 samples collected from infected wound and urinary tract. The specimens were cultured on blood agar, and McConkey’s agar for primary isolation. Identification was done by Gram’s stain, catalase test, co-agulase test, DNAse test and mannitol fermentation. A total of 163 clinical isolates of S. aureus were recorded, 15 (9.2%) isolates from these were MRSA. The results obtained from this study showed that the MRSA remain a versatile and dangerous pathogen in human with frequency of 9.2% between patients infected by S. aureus and also showed that the most effective antimicrobial against S. aureus was vancomycin (99%), because it had the lowest resistance rate. The sensitivity rate of cephalexin, penicillin, amoxicillin, cloxacillin, and methicillin, were 147/163 (93%) 23/163 (14%), 17/163(10%), 55/163 (34%) and 147/163(90%) respectively. Vancomycin was also evaluated for its effectiveness on Staphylococcus aureus resistant to cephalixin (90%).