title: [Prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus spp isolated in a teaching maternity hospital in the city of Natal, State of Rio Grande do Norte].
abstract: Analyses on 1,576 clinical specimens from hospitalized patients were performed with the aim of determining the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus spp isolated in the Januário Cicco Teaching Maternity Hospital in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, in 2002 and 2003. The samples were collected, processed and identified according to standard procedures, for each clinical specimen. In vitro susceptibility profiles were obtained using the Kirby-Bauer method. 188 strains of Staphylococcus spp were isolated: 105 were identified as Staphylococcus aureus and 83 as coagulase-negative Staphylococcus. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated most often in secretions, whereas coagulase-negative Staphylococcus was most prevalent in blood cultures. The high (41.5%) prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus spp shows the need for immediate prophylactic measures aimed at impeding the dissemination of this phenomenon.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiologia e Parasitologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande de Norte, Natal, RN.
authors.forename: Francisco Canindé de
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Sousa Junior
authors.forename: Ederson William de Figueiredo
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Nunes
authors.forename: Ermeton Duarte do
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Nascimento
authors.forename: Solange Maria de
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Maria Celeste Nunes de
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Melo
authors.forename: Maria José de Britto Costa
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Fernandes
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001938:Brazil; D006771:Hospitals, Maternity; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015995:Prevalence; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents