Prevalence of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a Tertiary-Care Hospital in Eastern Nepal

Abstract

Nosocomial infection is a major problem in the world today. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains, usually resistant to several antibiotics, shows a particular ability to spread inhospitals and is now present in most of the countries.The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of MRSA infections and theirantimicrobial susceptibility pattern in our hospital located in eastern Nepal.Identification of Staphylococcus aureus was confirmed by standard methods and the antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Interpretation criteriawere those of the national committee for clinical laboratory standards.During a period of one year, out of a total of 750 Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from variousclinical samples, 196 (26.14%) were found to be Methicillin-resistant. Seventy percent isolates of MRSA were from inpatient departments and amongst them only 10% of the isolates were from intensive care units (ICU). More than 65% of MRSA were found to be resistant to Penicillin, Cephalosporins, Ciprofloxacin, Gentamicin Erythromycin and Tetracycline, while 47.96% of them were resistant to Amikacin. Many MRSA strains were multidrug-resistant. However, no strains were resistant toVancomycin.To reduce the prevalence of MRSA, the regular surveillance of hospital acquired infection, isolationnursing of patients who carry MRSA, monitoring of antimicrobial susceptibility pattern andformulation of a definite antibiotic policy may be helpful.Key words:eastern Nepal, resistant, tertiary-care hospital