DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2017.v05i04.073

Pages: 1610-1613

Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) became a major health care problem. Early and accurate detection of MRSA is essential for implementation of infection control practices. The resistance mechanism in Staphylococcus aureus is mediated by mecA gene. This is the prospective cross sectional study conducted in Microbiology Laboratory, Mediciti Institute of Medical Sciences from November 2012 - June 2014. Detection of MRSA was done using Cefoxitin disc diffusion (CDD) method according to Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) guidelines with an objective to calculate prevalence of MRSA. Other phenotypic methods of detection of MRSA like Oxacillin disc diffusion (ODD) and Oxacillin agar dilution (OAD) were also done and results of all three methods were compared. Among 1350 clinical samples collected, 120 Staphylococcus aureus were isolated and processed for detection of MRSA. Total MRSA detected were 38(31.66%), 34(28.33%), 37(30.83%) by CDD, ODD, OAD methods respectively. So the prevalence of MRSA was 31.66%.More number of MRSA was detected by CDD. But when results were tested by chi square test, the P value showed no statistical significance. The minimum Inhibitory concentration [MIC] of Oxacillin for maximum number of MRSA isolates was found to be high (32 µg/ml) indicating increase in emergence of highly resistant strains. In conclusion, CDD is good method for detection of MRSA, but it should be supplemented with another feasible phenotypic method, so that MRSA strains exhibiting heterogenous resistance will not be missed.