Prevalence of Nasal Carriers of Staphylococcus aureus and Determination of Antibiotic Resistance in Hemodialysis Patient in Kamkar Hospital in Qom City, (Iran)

Backgroung and Objetives: Staphylococcus aureus is an important cause of infection in hemodialysis patients.The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence rate of S. aureus carriers in hemodialysis patient and the antibiogram of all isolated samples.
In this descriptive study, 244 hemodialysis patients (under hemodialysis in Kamkar Hospital in Qom), were included. Patients’ information were collected using a questionnaire, then, nasal swabs were taken from the depth of the anterior nasal vestibule and were cultured. To perform antibiogram, discs of vancomycin, erythromycin, clindamycin, cefazolin, cotrimoxazole, doxycycline, rifampin, methicillin, and imipenem, were used.
In this study, among 244 patients, (141 men and 103 woman), 25% were S. aureus carrier, of them, 11.5% were methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and 85.2% were methicillin sensitive (MSSA). The highest frequency (46.3%) was in the age group of 40 to 60 years. The most frequency in terms of duration of hemodialysis was reported in the age group of 1 to 5 years (51.6%) and in terms of the type of underlying disease for diabetes (30.7%). The most frequency in terms of duration of underlying disease was in the age group of 1 to 10 years (39.8). Most patients (85.7%) had not been hospitalized in the past one month, and most of them, were anemic (82.4%). There was a significant relationship between the positive culture result and hemoglobin level (p=0.08). Also, there was a significant relationship between duration of the underlying disease and positive culture result (p=0.05).
According to the results of this study, significant prevalence rate of S. aureus nasal carriers in dialysis patients and their relative high resistance to methicillin, recommends the need for follow-up and treatment of theses patients.