ABSTRACT
This is the largest Libyan study to date to investigate the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among health care workers in Tripoli, Libya. A total of 569 doctors and nurses from 4 main hospitals were screened for MRSA with specimens collected from the anterior nares. Isolates from 109 of the 569 subjects (19%) were confirmed as MRSA by polymerase chain reaction assay; the majority (98/109) were from a general hospital. Antimicrobial resistance patterns tested by disk diffusion were as follows: erythromycin (74%), ciprofloxacin (77%), clindamycin (20%), trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (50%), quinuprisin/dalfopristin (19%), vancomycin (12%) and mupirocin (5%). Eighteen isolates exhibited macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B resistance (MLSB): 6 were MLSBi and 12 were MLSBc. The results provide evidence that Libyan health care workers could serve as MRSA carriers and play a role in the dissemination of MRSA to the public and other workers.
Subject(s)
Carrier State/prevention & control , Infectious Disease Transmission, Professional-to-Patient/prevention & control , Mass Screening , Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus , Personnel, Hospital , Staphylococcal Infections/prevention & control , Carrier State/epidemiology , Humans , Libya/epidemiology , Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus/drug effects , Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus/isolation & purification , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Prevalence , Risk Factors , Staphylococcal Infections/epidemiologyABSTRACT
This is the largest Libyan study to date to investigate the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA] among health care workers in Tripoli, Libya. A total of 569 doctors and nurses from 4 main hospitals were screened for MRSA with specimens collected from the anterior nares. Isolates from 109 of the 569 subjects [19%] were confirmed as MRSA by polymerase chain reaction assay; the majority [98/109] were from a general hospital. Antimicrobial resistance patterns tested by disk diffusion were as follows: erythromycin [74%], ciprofloxacin [77%], clindamycin [20%], trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole [50%], quinuprisin/dalfopristin [19%], vancomycin [12%] and mupirocin [5%]. Eighteen isolates exhibited macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B resistance [MLSB]: 6 were MLSBi and 12 were MLSBc The results provide evidence that Libyan health care workers could serve as MRSA carriers and play a role in the dissemination of MRSA to the public and other workers
