Background: Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of community and hospital acquired infections. One of the important sources of staphylococci for nosocomial infection is nasal carriage among hospital personnel. Emergence of drug resistant strains especially methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a serious problem in hospital environments. The aim of this study was to determine the nasal carriage rate of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus among Dessie Referral Hospital healthcare-workers in Ethiopia.
Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on a total of 118 healthcare workers. Nasal swabs were collected and cultured on Mannitol Salt Agar. Slide coagulase test was performed. An oxacillin susceptibility test was carried out on Muller Hinton agar using modified Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method.
Results: Of the 118 healthcare workers, 34 (28.8%) carried S. aureus of which 15 were methicillin resistant. Therefore, 12.7% of all HCWs were identified as MRSA carriers. The rate of methicillin resistance among all S. aureus isolates was 44.1% (15/34). MRSA carriage was particularly high among nurses (21.2%). The highest rate of MRSA carriers (57.1%) were workers of surgical wards.
Conclusions: The high rate of nasal MRSA carriage among healthcare workers found in this study indicates the need for adjusted infection control measures to prevent MRSA transmission in our healthcare setting.