title: Prevalence, Antibiogram and Molecular Characterization of Comunity-Acquired Methicillin-ResistantStaphylococcus Aureusin AWKA, Anambra Nigeria.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study evaluated the prevalence, antibiogram and molecular features of CA-MRSA in Awka, Nigeria.
  
  
  METHODS
  Confirmation of MRSA was done by testing resistance to oxacillin (1µg), cloxacillin (5µg) and cefoxitin(30µg) on sterile Mueller Hinton agar supplemented with 4% sodium chloride. The MRSA strains were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing using Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Minimum inhibitory concentration was determined using agar dilution method. Penicillin binding protein 2a was detected through rapid latex agglutination assay while mecA gene was detected by polymerase chain reaction. A total of 142S. aureusisolates were obtained from 261 samples sourced from Staff, students and fomites of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall prevalence of MRSA was 22.6%. The carriage rate was higher in females (56.5%) than male (43.5%) and was highest in individuals of 20-30 years of age (57.65%). The MIC of the oxacillin sodium salt ranged from 4-32 μg/ml. The multi-antibiotic resistance indices show that 53.4% had Multiple Antibiotic Resistance Indexing (MARI) higher than 0.2. Penicillin binding protein 2a was detected in 8.4% of MRSA isolates, all from nasal carriage while mecA gene was detected in 5 of isolates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed a very high prevalence of MRSA carriage among studied subjects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra Nigeria.
authors.forename: Blessing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ike
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra Nigeria.
authors.forename: Malachy C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ugwu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra Nigeria.
authors.forename: Moses N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Ikegbunam
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra Nigeria.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nwobodo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra Nigeria.
authors.forename: Chika
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ejikeugwu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra Nigeria.
authors.forename: Thaddeus
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gugu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra Nigeria.
authors.forename: Charles O
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Esimone
keywords: Antibiogram; Community-associated methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA); Mec A gene; Nigeria; PBP2a; Prevalence