Is vancomycin the only choice for methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus? results from a multi-centered study on antibiotic sensitivity pattern of staphylococcus aureus isolated from nosocomial infections

ABSTRACT

To observe the pattern of antibiotic resistance in methicillin sensitive and methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus. Materials and Two hundred Staphylococcus aureus isolates from patients with hospital- acquired infections were collected. Methicillin resistance was determined by disc [oxacillin 1 micro g] diffusion method. Sensitivity to other antimicrobial agents was determined by Kirby Baurer disc diffusion method. The methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates were found sensitive to vancomycin [100%], fusidic acid [88.5%], chloramphenicol [80.8%] and fosfomycin [61.5%]. All the isolates were highly resistant to other classes of antimicrobial agents. Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus shows multi-drug resistance and infections caused by these isolates are difficult to treat. However our results show that beside vancomycin; fusidic acid, chloramphenicol and fosfomycin are good choices and should be tried for the isolates showing sensitivity to these agents