Background: Nasal carriage of
Staphylococcus aureus
is becoming an increasing problem among healthcare workers and
community individuals
Objectives: To determine the prevalence of methicillin-resistant
S. aureus (MRSA) nasal colonization and inducible clindamycin
resistance (ICR) of
S. aureus among healthcare workers at Soba University Hospital and community members in
Khartoum State, Sudan.
Methods: Five hundred nasal swabs samples were collected during March 2009 to April 2010. Isolates were identified using
conventional laboratory assays and MRSA determined by the disk diffusion method. The D-test was performed for detection
of ICR isolates with Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute guidelines.
Results: Of the 114
S. aureus isolated, 20.2% represented MRSA. The occurrence of MRSA was significantly higher among
healthcare worker than community individuals [32.7% (18/55) vs. 6.9% (5/59)] (p=0.001). Overall the 114 S. aureus isolates
tested for ICR by D-test, 29 (25.4%) yielded inducible resistance. Significantly higher (p=0.026) ICR was detected among
MRSA (43.5%) than methicillin-susceptible
S. aureus (MSSA) (20.9%).
Conclusion: MRSA nasal carriage among healthcare workers needs infection control practice in hospitals to prevent transmission
of MRSA. The occurrence of ICR in
S. aureus is of a great concern, D- test should be carried out routinely in our
hospitals to avoid therapeutic failure.