ABSTRACT
Background: staphylococci is a resistant bacteria which may exist in normal flora of skin, eye, upper respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, urethra and rarely vagina. These species can be the causes of several syndromes such as superficial and deep cutaneous infections, systemic poisoning, and urinary tract infections. In the current survey, we studied the frequency of staphylococcus aureus carriers and compared it between medical and non-medical personnel in Be'saat medical center
Materials and Methods: an analytic cross-sectional study was designed to determine the frequency of nasal cavity and hand carriage of staphylococcus aureus among 253 personnel and compare the index between medical and non-medical staffs. The specimen was provided and cultured in selective media. By bacterial growth and determination of the species using specific diagnostic procedures, results were calculated in both medical and non-medical personnel and compared with chi-square statistical test regarding an alpha level of 0.05 as significant
Results: of total 253 personnel 65 [25.7%] were nasal carriers of staphylococcus aureus which 35 were medical [23% of 153 medical staffs] and 30 were non-medical [30% of 100 non-medical staffs] personnel. On the other hand, from 10 hand carriers of staphylococcus aureus 6 were medical [3.9%] and 4 were non-medical [4%] staffs [p>0.05]
Conclusions: due to our findings, in spite of higher frequency of staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage among medical staffs than non-medical personnel, there is not a significant difference between the prevalence. The same finding was obtained in hand carriage of the germ. So the target group of educating for hygiene improvement to decrease the load of colonies is not only the medical staffs [as the most traditional target] but also non-medical staffs [who are usually out of sight]