Frequency Distribution of Hospital-Acquired MRSA Nasal Carriage Among Hospitalized Patients in West of Iran

Hospital patients who are nasal carriers of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are a high-risk potential threat to themselves and other hospitalized patients. The high antibiotic resistance of these isolates renders the treatment of related infections difficult.. The present study, for the first time investigated the prevalence of MRSA isolates in nasal carriers in Imam Reza Hospital in the western province of Iran.. Nasal samples from 1269 hospitalized patients were tested for S. aureus. The sensitivity of these isolates to various antibiotics was evaluated by the disk diffusion method and E-test oxacillin strips. After determining the MIC and inducible clindamycin resistance, the mecA gene was investigated by PCR.. 17.57% (223) of patients were HA-SA nasal carriers, with 82 isolates (36.8%) being resistant to methicillin (MRSA). The infant ward had the highest rate of carriage (80%). The difference in the sensitivity of MRSA and MSSA isolates to several antibiotics was significant (P< 0.05); furthermore, 80.5% of MRSA isolates and 2.8% of MSSA isolates were multi-drug resistant (MDR). A lower resistance was observed against clindamycin (58.5%), rifampicin (19.5%), and chloramphenicol (7.3%).. The high prevalence and antibiotic resistance of HA-MRSA isolates in western Iran indicates the necessity of continuous monitoring of hospital patients in the country for the presence of MRSA, particularly in infant wards..