Prevalence of Methicilllin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) nasal colonization among healthy AAU undergraduates

Background: The colonization of different parts of human body by Staphylococcus aureus has been incriminated in many disease conditions and has become a major problem in the control of both community and hospital associated infections. A healthy carrier can therefore serve as a pool for regular and consistent release of the organism to the community. Objective: This study was carried out to assess the level of nasal colonization by MRSA among apparently healthy undergraduate students of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A well-structured questionnaire which captured participants’ biodata and determined their suitability for the investigation was administered on each volunteer. Nasal swab samples for the culture and isolation of S. aureus were obtained from 350 apparently healthy students spread across the five faculties of the University. Samples were cultured on Manitol Salt Agar and MacConkey agar. Confirmed S. aureus isolates were screened for methicillin resistance using Cefoxitin disc. Susceptibility of all isolates was done on Meuller-Hinton agar using disc diffusion method. Results: The volunteers were made up of 142 males and 198 females with mean age of 19.5 ± 2.1. Ninety-eight samples (28%) were positive for S. aureus out of which 9(2.6%) were screened positive for MRSA. Other organism isolated is Coagulase –ve Staphylococci. The frequency of isolation of MRSA was higher (1.7%) among the female volunteers. S. aureus isolates were susceptible to Erythromycin (86.5), Augmentin (80.9%) and Gentamycin (80.9%) and highly resistant to Tetracycline 21(89%).  High resistance was shown by MRSA to Penicillin, Ampicillin, Tetracycline and Cotrimoxazole.  Conclusion: A prevalence rate of 2.6% MRSA observed in this study was high enough to generate concern, since they were all healthy carriers. Prophylactic treatment and personal hygiene are therefore advocated among this studied group to curb its spread.