ABSTRACT
Background: Staphylococcus aureus [S.aureus] is an importantpathogen in human infections.Some strains of S. aureusare methicillin-resistant [MRSA] andcause hospital- and community-acquired infections in children. The aims of this study were to determine nasalcarriage rate of S. aureus and susceptibility pattern of this organism to some antibioticsamong children in Kermanshah province, Iran. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Kermanshah province, Iranfrom 2007 to 2008.Nasal swabs were obtained from 274 children who were hospitalized in our university hospital at the time of admission and 219 children upon dischargetime.If result of nasal culture was positive at admission time they considered community acquired and if result at admission time was negative but positive at discharge time they considered hospital acquired. Antibiotic susceptibility patterns of S.aureuswere done by disk diffusion method and results were compared between them. Results: In 55 patients out of 274 cases [20.07%], S. aureus was demonstrated upon admission [community-acquired]. In the remaining 219 cases, S. aureus was detected in 46 cases [21%] at discharge time [hospital-acquired]. The rate of methicillin-resistant S. aureus [MRSA] in community- and hospital-acquired infections were 96.4% and 95.7%, respectively.We observed no statistical significance different in antibiotic resistance pattern between community acquired and hospital acquired S.aureus except for co-triomoxcazol [P=0.034]. Conclusion: A high rate of MRSA in both community- and hospital-acquired infections were observed