Antibiotic susceptibility and toxins production of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from clinical samples from Benin

A wide range of clinical samples were screened for identification of Staphylococcus aureus, their antibiotic sensitivity profile and the production of different leucotoxin and epidermolysins was evaluated. Out of 2,040 biological samples (collected from pus, urine, sperms, genital, catheter and blood of hospitalized and extra-hospital patients) screened, 123 pure cultures of S. aureuscolonies were isolated. 48.78% of S. aureus were resistant to methicillin (MRSA), while 78% of them were isolated from extra-hospital patients. The S. aureus isolated from urines, pus and blood produced Panton and Valentine leukocidin (PVL) toxin, while the leucotoxin lukE-lukD was exclusively encountered by S. aureus isolated from pus samples. None of the bacterial colony isolated produced epidermolysin toxins A and B. In addition, 3.25% of MRSA and 8.13% of methicillin sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) produced PVL respectively. Our results indicated high frequency rate of MRSA in extra-hospital screened samples isolated from various types of infection. This high resistance rate combined with toxin production increases the virulence of S. aureus colonies and put therefore at risk the life of the patients in developing countries where auto-medication is not controlled. There is the need to instruct the population in order to avoid further widening of MRSA territory.   Key words: Staphylococcus aureus, Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL), antibiotic, infection, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Benin.