title: Staphylococcus aureus carriage among medical students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the frequency of S. aureus isolation from the nose among students in relation to age, gender, and year of the study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study included 387 students who performed sanitary examination at the Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of Sarajevo. The bacterial strains were identified by conventional method and the antibiotic resistance was carried out by disc diffusion method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall carriage rate of Staphylococcus aureus was 10.6%. S. aureus were isolated in 58.54% female and 41.46% male students (p more than 0.05). S. aureus was isolated in 22 (10.8%) in the age group 22-26, and in 17 (10.2%) students in the age group 27-32 The lowest prevalence of isolates was in the 33-38 age group, with only two (12.5%) (p more than 0.05). According to the year of the study, the greatest number of S. aureus strains was present in the fourth year, 21 (14.5%), while the smallest one was in the sixth year, 4 (3.3%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No significant differences were found in the frequency of isolates in relation to age and gender of students, but it was found in relation to the year of the study. The study identifies the importance of medical students as possible agents of transmission in the hospital environment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. sabina.mahmutovic@mf.unsa.ba
authors.forename: Sabina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mahmutović Vranić
authors.forename: Mediha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Puškar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002353:Carrier State / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009296:Nasal Cavity / Q000382:microbiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013337:Students, Medical; D055815:Young Adult