scholarly journals Carriage of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among Health Care Workers in Cardiac Unit of a Tertiary Care Hospital

Author(s):  
Rakhi Dixit
2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (04) ◽  
pp. 317-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seema Singh ◽  
Rubina Malhotra ◽  
Pragati Grover ◽  
Renu Bansal ◽  
Shipra Galhotra ◽  
...  

Abstract INTRODUCTION: Resistance to antimicrobial agents is a major concern worldwide and is exemplified by the global spread of the Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Health care workers (HCWs) and asymptomatically colonized patients are important sources of nosocomial MRSA infections. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of MRSA colonisation, two hundred HCWs and 200 consecutive outpatients attending our tertiary care hospital were studied. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two sterile pre-moistened cotton tipped swabs were used to collect specimens from their anterior nares. These were inoculated immediately on Blood agar with oxacillin, Mannitol salt agar with oxacillin and CHROM agar. Resistance to cefoxitin was confirmed by PCR by demonstration of mecA gene. Antibiotic susceptibility was determined by Kirby Bauer’s disc diffusion method and MIC of vancomycin by using broth dilution and Vitek-2 Compact system. RESULTS: The nasal carriage of MRSA among HCWs was found to be 7.5% and in outpatients 3%. All strains of MRSA from HCWs and outpatients grew on three selective media and mecA gene amplified in all of them. All the isolated strains of MRSA showed high degree of resistance to co-trimoxazole (93.3%), ciprofloxacin (80%) and erythromycin (66.66%). However, there was 100% susceptiability to vancomycin, teicoplanin, linezolid and Rifampicin. CONCLUSION: Although a direct casual relationship could not be established, it could be assumed that the transmission from colonised health care worker is responsible atleast in part for MRSA infection among patients. Therefore emphasis should be laid on strict implementation of standard infection control practices which would help in minimizing the carriage and transmission of MRSA in the hospital.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Preetha Aravind ◽  
Prabha Unny Krishnan ◽  
Hiresave Srinivasa ◽  
Vijay Joseph

Staphylococcus aureus is a significant nosocomial pathogen and the development of resistance to methicillin poses a major threat to its control. This study was conducted over a three month period in a Burns Unit of a tertiary care hospital to determine the prevalance of methicillin- resistant S. aureus (MRSA) colonisation in health care workers. All health care workers were screened using swabs from the hairline, nostril, axilla, and hands. Seventeen of 34 health care workers screened were MRSA-positive; 16 people tested positive for the methicillin-sensitive strain of S. aureus, 7 of whom were also MRSA-positive at a different site. In total, over two thirds of all health care workers were colonised by S. aureus. Pus samples from patients admitted in the same unit over the three month study period were analysed and showed that 21% of patients were infected or colonised with MRSA. Although a direct causal relationship is not established by these data, it is reasonable to assume that transmission from colonised health care workers is responsible, at least in part, for the extent of infection/colonisation among patients. These findings identify the need for a well defined policy for screening health care workers and controlling the rates of colonisation with potentially dangerous pathogens given the risk of transmission to susceptible patients.


Author(s):  
Latha T ◽  
Anil K Bhat ◽  
Manjunatha Hande H ◽  
Chiranjay Mukhopadyay ◽  
Elsa Sanatombi Devi ◽  
...  

 Objective: The aim of this study was to find the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carrier status in anterior nares and hands of health-care professionals working in orthopedic wards of a tertiary care hospital and to decolonize them to reduce spread of MRSA to their patients.Methods: The study was conducted in a super specialty, tertiary care teaching hospital. The samples were collected from anterior nares, palm, web spaces, and fingertips of 140 health-care professionals (48 doctors, 74 nurses, and 18 technicians) working in orthopedic wards using sterile pre-moistened swabs. MRSA carrier status was identified by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method.Result: Most (76.4%) of the health-care professionals were <30 years of age and 51% were male. MRSA in anterior nares of doctors was 4.3%, nurses 1.4%, and technicians 0.7% and none had MRSA in their hands. Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) growth was more among nurses (nurses - 5.7%, doctors - 2.1%, and technicians - 1.4%) in anterior nares. In addition, 1.4% nurses’ hands were colonized with MSSA. Both MRSA and MSSA carriers were decolonized effectively and repeat sampling showed no growth.Conclusion: Health-care professionals have a greater chance of transmitting MRSA to patients and orthopedic patients are more susceptible for infection. Although MRSA carrier status was not very high among orthopedic health-care professionals compared to previous studies, it cannot be ignored. Nasal mupirocin and bath with chlorhexidine soap were effective in decolonization. Periodic screening and treatment of colonizers would help in elimination of MRSA carriage.


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