title: The prevalence of nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus among healthcare workers at a tertiary care hospital in assam with special reference to MRSA.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The recent years have witnessed the increasing resistance of Staphylococcus aureus to many antimicrobial agents. The most notable example is the emergence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which was reported just one year after the launch of methicillin. The ecological niches of the S. aureus strains are the anterior nares. The identification of Staphylococcus aureus by using a proper antibiogram and the detection of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus greatly contribute towards the effective treatment of the patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To isolate Staphylococcus aureus from the nasal swabs of healthcare workers (HCWs) and to study their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, which include methicillin resistance.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nasal swabs were collected from the healthcare workers of various clinical departments of the hospital over a period of one year. The isolation of Staphylococcus aureus and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns were carried out by standard bacteriological procedures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Staphylococcus aureus was isolated in 70 cases (22.22%). The prevalence of the S.aureus nasal carriage was higher among the male HCWs (54.28%) than among the female HCWs (45.71%). The carriage rate was the highest in the orthopaedics department, followed by those in the surgery and the gynaecology departments. All the Staphylococcus aureus isolates were sensitive to vancomycin and linezolid (100%). Penicillin and ampicillin were the most resistant, (90% and 88.6%) respectively. Methicillin resistance was seen in11.43% of the S.aureus isolates, both by the disc diffusion test and by the Oxacillin Resistance Screen Agar (ORSA) test.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The compliance with the sanitary and the antibacterial guidelines of the health professionals is the single most important factor in preventing nosocomial infections. Simple preventive measures like hand washing before and after the patient examination, the use of sterile aprons and masks in the postoperative wards, awareness during the examination of the immunocompromised patients, and avoiding touching one's nose during work, can reduce the disease transmission rate considerably.
authors.affiliation: Senior Resident, Department of Microbiology, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital , Delhi, India .
authors.forename: Sharon Rainy
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Rongpharpi
authors.forename: Naba Kumar
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Hazarika
authors.forename: Hitesh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kalita
keywords: Healthcare workers; Nasal carriage; Staphylococcus aureus
references.citation: Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2006 Mar;27(3):323-5
references.pmid: 16532427
references.citation: Am J Clin Pathol. 1966 Apr;45(4):493-6
references.pmid: 5325707
references.citation: Can Med Assoc J. 1957 Dec 1;77(11):1001-9
references.pmid: 13489588
references.citation: Jpn J Infect Dis. 2009 May;62(3):228-9
references.pmid: 19468188
references.citation: Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2006 Feb;27(2):218-20
references.pmid: 16566080
references.citation: Indian J Med Microbiol. 2001 Apr-Jun;19(2):13-6
references.pmid: 17664799
references.citation: Crit Care. 2005 Jun;9(3):R246-50
references.pmid: 15987397
references.citation: Infection. 1992 Nov-Dec;20(6):332-5
references.pmid: 1293052
references.citation: Clin Microbiol Rev. 1997 Jul;10(3):505-20
references.pmid: 9227864
references.citation: Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1982;76(3):319-23
references.pmid: 7112654
references.citation: J Med Microbiol. 1990 Feb;31(2):125-32
references.pmid: 2154580
references.citation: J Clin Microbiol. 2003 Dec;41(12):5718-25
references.pmid: 14662966
references.citation: Indian J Med Microbiol. 2005 Jul;23(3):186-8
references.pmid: 16100427
references.citation: Nepal Med Coll J. 2010 Mar;12(1):26-9
references.pmid: 20677605
references.citation: Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1984 Apr;25(4):422-6
references.pmid: 6732212
references.citation: Indian J Med Microbiol. 2009 Jan-Mar;27(1):62-4
references.pmid: 19172064