RESUMEN
Abstract Nasal colonization with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have increasingly been reported in healthy communities. This study aimed to assess the rate of S. aureus in general and MRSA in particular from nasal secretion of children in daycare centers in Vitória da Conquista, Brazil. The isolates were identified based on morphology, biochemical tests and by PCR. Detection of virulence genes, biofilm production, and susceptibility test by disk diffusion agar were performed. MRSA isolates were characterized by spa, SCCmec, and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). S. aureus were recovered from 70 (47.3%) of 148 children. Among the 11 MRSA strains (15.7%), two SCCmec types (IV and V) were detected. MLST identified four STs related to three clonal complexes (CC): 5, 45, and 398. Four spa types were found circulating in this setting. Resistance of S. aureus isolates to ampicillin, erythromycin, ciprofloxacin, clindamycin, and tetracycline was 80%, 32.8%, 7.1%, 7.1% and 4.3%, respectively. One isolate presented intermediate resistance to vancomycin detected by Etest methodology. All strains were biofilm producers. The virulence genes seb, sec, spa, and pvl were detected in some isolates. This study revealed a high rate of children carrying MRSA among healthy attendees in daycare centers in Vitória da Conquista, Brazil.