Background: Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a multidrug resistant organism emerging as a major cause of nosocomial infections can be transmitted to a patient from another patient or through the hands, clothes and equipment of health care workers in hospital setting. Screening of health care workers colonised with MRSA will be helpful in preventing the expansion of this organism in a hospital. With this background the present study was undertaken to estimate the carriage rate of MRSA among healthcare workers in our hospital.
Methods: Nasal swabs were collected from 150 health care workers working in Shri Shankaracharya Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhilai during the study period of 2 months.
S. aureus was identified by standard methods. Antibiotic susceptibility test was performed by modified Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. MRSA was identified by using a cefoxitin 30 mcg disc and it was interpreted according to the CLSI guidelines.
Results: The prevalence of MRSA carriage among health care workers was 17.3% with the carrier rate being highest among nurses (42.3%). MRSA isolates were 100% resistant to cefoxitin and amoxyclav, 53.9% to cotrimoxazole, 61.5% to erythromycin and 42.3% to clindamycin.
Conclusions: Screening and decolonization may be effective in reducing the MRSA carriage rate among the HCWs. Stringent infection control practices should be employed in the hospitals to minimize either the carriage or the transmission rate.
Impact Factor
2022: 6.012
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