ABSTRACT
Purpose: Hospital personnel are often colonized with resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus (SA). These strains could be transmitted to patients; complicating treatment options particularly in resource-limited areas where antimicrobial susceptibility assessment is not systematic. In view of guiding empiric treatment in such patients; we assessed antimicrobial susceptibility profile of SA isolated from the anterior nares of hospital personnel of three health institutions in Yaounde; Cameroon in a cross sectional study. We also assessed risk factors associated with the presence of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Methods: The antibiotic susceptibility profile of fifty eight SA strains isolated from hospital personnel to sixteen commonly used antibiotics was assessed using the Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method. Methicillin resistant strains were determined by the Oxacillin Minimum Inhibitory concentration technique.Results: All the isolates were resistant to penicillin; ampicillin; and amikacin. No resistance was recorded for netilmicin; vancomycin; and low for gentamicin; rifampin and cephalotin. Eight (13.8) of the isolates were found to be MRSA. We found 85of MRSA to be resistant to more than six of the tested antibiotics. No association was found between demographic variables or personal habits and nasal colonization with methicillin-resistant strains.Conclusion: A relatively high proportion of SA isolates in this study were resistant to commonly used antibiotics. This calls for regular monitoring of susceptibility patterns