Estimation of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Carriage among Patients’ Visitors (Adults) in a Tertiary Care Hospital

As community at large is also one of the potential habitats for emergence of multidrug resistant bacteria, exemplified by Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA), due to widespread misuse of antibiotics at various levels including from non-human-healthcare sources like veterinary and poultry care along with unrestricted pharmacies, it was prudent to investigate the less trodden arena of the patients’ visitor populace in hospitals, that along with patients, actually forms the interface between the two and could have been contributing to the overall ecologic burden of such organisms there, often, hardly being accounted for. Nasal swabs (160) were processed on 5% sheep blood agar for primary isolation of S. aureus and subsequently Cephoxitin disc diffusion test on unsupplemented Mueller Hinton Agar at 35°C was used for phenotypic detection of mecA mediated oxacillin resistance as described by CLSI standard to identify MRSAs irrespective of the two clinico-genotypes of HA-and CA-MRSAs, the margin between which being increasingly becoming blurred off late. Five MRSAs were isolated out of 160 swabs, although the S.aureus isolates were 28/160, to give the prevalence of nasal carriage of 3% among the patients’ visitors (adults), which would form a major chunk that cannot be disregarded, given the complex dynamics of microbial colonization and infection. The present study throws light on the often ignored group of population as potential source for transmission of extreme drug resistant bacteria in healthcare settings and goes a long way in abrogating their notoriety as the only sources of harmful superbugs.