Screening of nasal carriage for Staphylococcus aureus and their resistance to oxacillin and cefoxitin among medical students in Karbala University

Objective: Carriage of Staphylococcus aureus, especially methicillin-resistant S. aureus [MRSA] is a problem within healthcare organizations and in the community. The aim of the study was to screen S. aureus carriage and their susceptibility to cefoxitin and oxacillin among medical students

Methods: A total of 100 nasal swabs were collected. Isolation and identification of the isolate as S. aureus was done using Gram stain, coagulase test and catalase test. S. aureus isolates were confirmed as MRSA using cefoxitin [30 micro g] disc and oxacillin [30 micro g] disc by Kirby- Bauer disc diffusion method on Mueller-Hinton agar. From 100 nasal swabs, 76 were coagulase negative Staphylococci and 20 were coagulase positive Staphylococci

Results: From 100 nasal swabs, 76 were coagulase negative Staphylococci and 20 were coagulase positive Staphylococci. From these, 60% and 40% were oxacillin- and cefoxitin-resistant isolates, respectively. The data obtained from this study revealed that there were carriers of MRSA among the medical students

Determination of baseline Widal titre in healthy individuals in Karbala city, South of Iraq

Objective: To determine the cutoff of antibodies directed against Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serotype typhi, paratyphi A, and paratyphi B in normal population in Karbala city, south Iraq

Methods: Widal test was performed for 90 serially diluted serum samples collected from apparently healthy volunteers. A commercial Widal test kit was used. Agglutination results were observed within 1 minute

Results: In the current study, 23.33%, 22.22%, 6.6%, 4.4%, 38.88% and 5.55% of individuals had antibody titre >/=1:20 for S. enterica subspecies enterica serotype typhi O, H, S. enterica serotype paratyphi AO, AH, S. enterica serotype paratyphi BO and BH, respectively

Conclusion: Based on these results, antibody titres of 1:160 for O and H, 1:40 for AO, 1:80 for AH and BH and 1:320 for BO antigens were considered as baseline titre in Karbala