Nasal carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among health-care workers at a tertiary care hospital in Northern India

ABSTRACT

Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is resistant to all beta-lactam antibiotics, including penicillins, cephalosporins, carbapenems, and betalactamase inhibitors. MRSA remains a public health problem globally. MRSA infection increases morbidity, risk of mortality, increased financial burden, and loss of productivity. A major source of MRSA in the hospital environment can be asymptomatically colonized health-care workers (HCWs). Objectives: The aim of the study is to screen nasal swabs collected from HCWs of our hospital for colonization with S. aureus and detect methicillin resistance among them. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, consenting HCWs were consecutively enrolled. Nasal swabs were collected aseptically from study participants and processed using standard microbiological protocols for the recovery of S. aureus and MRSA. Methicillin resistance was detected by cefoxitin disc diffusion method according to the CLSI guidelines. Results: Out of a total of 184 HCWs studied, the prevalence of S. aureus carriage in anterior nares was 14.6%. The overall MRSA prevalence was 3.8%. Highest carriage rates for MRSA were found in laboratory technicians (7.1%) followed by nursing staff (4.4%). The ophthalmology department had the highest MRSA carriage rate of 22%. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that nasal carriage of MRSA among HCWs is relatively low in this study compared to other Indian studies done in tertiary care centres. Further studies are needed to evaluate the incidence of infections due to MRSA in this population.