Nasal Carriage of Staphylococcus aureus Among Students of Public Schools in Sana?a, Yemen

摘要

Background and Objective: Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ) is a microorganism that colonizes the skin and mucosal surfaces of healthy individuals but it is also one of the most common causes of community acquired and hospital infections. Nasal carriage of S. aureus represents a major risk factor especially for nosocomial infection of methicillin resistant strains (MRSA). The aim of this study was to assess the nasal carriage of S. aureus in healthy individuals of three public schools in the local community and the sensitivity rate of the microorganism to antibiotics. Materials and Methods: A total of 450 nasal swabs were obtained from students of three public schools from January to May 2014. S. aureus isolates were characterized by their antimicrobial susceptibility . Data were compiled and entered into MS Excel and analysed using SPSS software then presented in tabular form and analysed into frequency percentage. Results: Out of 450 students 104 (23.1%) were colonized with S. aureus , with highest carriage rates (26.2%) in females and (20.2%) males which are statically nonsignificant p>0.1485. The finding of this study shown highest resistant to almost all the antibiotics which were carried out on positive samples of different isolates of S. aureus against ampicillin (87.5%), followed by amoxicillin (83.6%), gentamicin (72.1%), chloramphenical (62.5%) and cotrimazole (55.7%) and ciprofloxacin exhibit least resistant (17.3%), followed by erythromycin (32.6%) and cefotaxime (34.6%). Conclusion: Therefore, it was concluded that providing information for students and their parents regarding precautions and preventive measures related to S. aureus is prudent practice. Future research may be required to establish whether such differences in nasal S. aureus carriage are linked to socioeconomic differences between urban and rural communities in this very poor country such as Yemen.