Nasal Carriage of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among Healthy Primary School Children in Omdurman City

Abstract

Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) continues to be a major cause of serious infections in the community worldwide while in Sudan we still lacking the preliminary data for this pathogen. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriers among primary school children in Omdurman City, Khartoum State and, also to evaluate the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the isolates. The distribution of sample was as follows: 50 (50/100) nasal swabs are taken from children of Nour Algofran Primary School and 50 (50/100) samples are taken from Gobaa Primary school children. All samples were cultured on Manitol salt agar. Different biochemical tests and Gram<s stain were used for identification of S. aureus. The results confirmed the existence of S. aureus in 43; (43%) of enrolled children among which 7; (16%) are methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were identified by using disk diffusion method according to the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institution (CLSI) guidance. Erythromycin resistance was present in 7(16%) isolates. However, no isolate were resistant to vancomycin. All isolates were resistant to penicillin G. There is no significant association between Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage and gender (p= 0.484), age (p= 0.884), household number (p= 0.496) and recent respiratory tract infections (p= 0.104). The results of this study indicated that the carriage of MRSA exists among young healthy school children who lack traditional risk factors for MRSA.