title: Prevalence of MRSA Nasal Carriage in Patients Admitted to a Tertiary Care Hospital in Southern India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Infections with MRSA, both community and hospital acquired, are well established and the source of infection is often a carrier. There are very few studies showing the magnitude of MRSA nasal colonization among healthy persons from the community. This study was conducted to detect the prevalence of MRSA nasal carriage in patients who did not have any known risk factors associated with HA- MRSA colonization, admitted to a tertiary care centre in Kerala.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nasal swabs were collected from patients within 24 hours of admission. Specimen were inoculated on chromogenic agar (HiCrome MeReSa agar-HiMedia) for MRSA screening. Isolates were then subjected to antibiotic sensitivity tests, SCCmec typing and PVL gene detection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of 683 patients, 16 carried MRSA in their nares (2.3%). Of the 16 strains 13 (81.25 %) strain were SCCmec type III and one belonged to SCCmec type IV (6.25 %). Two strains failed to amplify SCCmec genes. Three strains carried genes for PVL toxin (18.75%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  With a better understanding of the complex epidemiology of MRSA it is increasingly apparent that demarcations between the HA and CA phenotypes are not as clear cut as previously thought. In this study of nasal carriage of MRSA in the community we have demonstrated prevalence consistent with published data. Most isolates however were shown to belong to the type conventionally assigned to HA-MRSA.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, Government Medical College , Kozhikode, Kerala, India .
authors.forename: Kalpana
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: George
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, Government Medical College , Thrissur, Kerala, India .
authors.forename: Jasmine Kulapurathu
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Abdulkader
authors.affiliation: Research Fellow, Department of Microbiology, JIPMER , Puducherry, India .
authors.forename: Madhan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sugumar
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Microbiology, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences , Cochin, India .
authors.forename: Girija Kalarikkal
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Rajagopal
keywords: Nasal colonization; Nasal swabs; Phenotypes