Isolation of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus intermedius among health care workers

Staphylococcus intermedius is a zoonotic bacteria which has been rarely found even among individuals with frequent exposures to animals. There were some reports on invasive infections in animals and humans. The objective of this study was identification of positive coagulase staphylococci other than S. aureus in health care workers. This descriptive cross sectional study was carried on 150 health care workers in three medical centers of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) from July 2008 to December 2008. The samples were collected from anterior nasal region of cases using cotton swabs and sent to laboratory for identifying organisms by microbial and biochemical tests. Moreover, PCR was carried out with mecA specific primers to detect methicillin resistance. Out of 150 health care staff, 38 (25.3%) strains of coagulase positive staphylococci were isolated. Of these isolates, one strain was S. intermedius and the others were S. aureus. The presence of mecA gene in S. intermedius was confirmed by PCR. Transmission of S. intermedius from animals to human may result in expansion of uncommon infections and increasing of antibiotic resistance. Hence, identification of microbial colonization in health care staff has very important role for prevention of nosocomial infections.