Volume :

2

Issue :

4

Abstract :

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been associated with considerable morbidity and mortality and is an important public health issue. It is an opportunistic pathogen. The increasing resistance of this pathogen to various antibiotics complicates treatment of S. aureus infections. Effective measures to prevent S aureus infections are therefore urgently needed. AIM To evaluate the trend of mupirocin resistance in nasal colonisation of Staphylococcus in patients’ attendants and health care workers of post operative surgical ward of a tertiary care hospital. METHODS Total of 66 health care providers were studied. Nasal swabs were collected and processed for bacterial culture and. Methicillin resistance was detected by disc diffusion method using cefoxitin (30mcg) disc & mupirocin sensitivity using mupirocin (5mcg) disc. RESULTS 39(67.24%) of patients attendants had Staphylococcus carriage of which 94.87% were S. aureus . 9(24.33%) of S. aureus were MRSA. All health care worker had S. aureus colonisation of which 6 (75.00%) were MRSA. Overall 2(4.45%) S. aureus isolates from health care providers were resistant to muporocin. CONCLUSION Regular surveillance to know carrier prevalence and effective infection control initiatives are needed to reduce the incidence of health care associated infections due to MRSA. Monitoring of mupirocin resistance is essential to device carrier eradication protocols.