title: In vitro susceptibility of chloramphenicol against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the in vitro susceptibility of chloramphenicol against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Department of Microbiology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, from January to June 2012.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and seventy four isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus were included in this study using cefoxitin (30 μg) disc for detection. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of chloramphenicol against MRSA was determined by using E-strip (AB BIO DISK). The susceptibility was determined by swabbing the Mueller-Hinton agar (MHA) plates with the resultant saline suspension of MRSA and applying E-strip of chloramphenicol from AB Biodisk Sweden and determining the MIC of chloramphenicol (in μg/ml). Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) recommendations of ≤ 8 μg/ml being sensitive, 16 μg/ml as intermediate and ≥32 μg/ml as resistant were followed in interpreting the results.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of the 174 MRSA isolates, 132 (75.86%) isolates were susceptible to chloramphenicol with MICs of ≤ 8 μg/ml, 38 (21.84%) were resistant ≥32 μg/ml while 4 (2.30%) were in intermediate range with MIC of 16μg/ml.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Chloramphenicol has shown good in vitro activity against MRSA and is likely to have a key role in the treatment of MRSA infections providing us a good alternative to newer expensive antimicrobials in resource limited countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fayyaz
authors.forename: Irfan Ali
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Mirza
authors.forename: Zaheer
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Shahid Ahmad
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Abbasi
authors.forename: Aamir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.forename: Shamshad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ali
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002701:Chloramphenicol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002701:Chloramphenicol