Prevalence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and their antibiotic resistance patterns in patients hospitalized in Birjand-based Imam Reza Hospital

As one of the major causes of hospital and community acquired infections, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) requires accurate and timely diagnosis. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and antibiotic resistance patterns of MRSA in patients hospitalized in the Birjand-based Imam Reza hospital.
In this cross-sectional study, a total of 102 clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates were evaluated. Staphylococcus aureus isolates were confirmed via conventional microbiological and PCR methods (coa gene). The antimicrobial resistance patterns of the isolates were determined using the Kirby-Bauer disk-diffusion based on CLSI guidelines. Resistance to methicillin in the isolates was confirmed by means of PCR method (mceA gene). Finally, the obtained data was analyzed using SPSS software (version 16).
In this study, 50.9% and 58.8% of Staphylococcus aureus isolates were reported as methicillin-resistant using the Kirby-Bauer disk-diffusion and PCR methods, respectively. The highest antibiotic resistance in MRSA strains was found to penicillin (96.6%), to erythromycin (45%), and to ciprofloxacin (36.6%). In present study, resistance to azithromycin, erythromycin, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, minocycline, and rifampin in MRSA isolates was significantly greater than Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (P A significant percentage of MRSA isolates in the hospitalized patients was resistant to methicillin, which is confirmed even with a wider range in their genotype.