High Frequency of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Intensive Care Unit in Karaj, Iran

The current study aimed at finding the frequency of MRSA infections, contamination, and colonization in the teaching hospitals of Karaj city, Iran for the first time. The current cross sectional study was conducted in Karaj on three teaching hospitals from July 2013 to July 2014. Sample collection from personnel and surfaces was conducted twice and monthly, respectively, during the study period. Also, all Staphylococcus aureus species isolated from patients were included in the study. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed by the standard disk diffusion method. All isolates were subjected to mupA and mecA-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR)to identify high-level mupirocin-resistant and MRSA isolates, respectively. Chi-square test was employed for data analysis. The majority of S. aureus species were isolated from personnel and surfaces of the hospitals. One hundred sixty-eight S. aureus and 49 MRSA species were isolated from Karaj teaching hospitals. The main frequency of MRSA was isolated from intensive care unit (ICU) (75%) and high rate of resistance to rifampicin (53%) was observed in MRSA isolates. Although 10 S. aureus species were resistant to mupirocin by disk diffusion, no mupA gene was detected in the isolates. In conclusion, in comparison with the other studies from Iran, low frequency of MRSA was observed in the investigated hospitals. However high frequency (75%) of MRSA in ICU indicated that antibiotic policy is urgently needed to prevent the resistance development. Moreover, antibiotic susceptibility monitoring and regular screening surfaces and personnel of hospitals in terms of MRSA colonization, especially ICU, are indispensable.