High Prevalence of Community-Associated Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections in patients admitted to District General Hospital-Matara

Abstract

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) shows resistance to most commonly used antibiotics. MRSA can be classified as community-associated (CA) or healthcare-associated (HA) based on epidemiological, genotypic, and antibiotic susceptibility patterns. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and predominant MRSA types isolated among patients admitted to District General Hospital, Matara (DGHM). Consecutive S. aureus isolates were collected from August to November 2020 from the clinical microbiology laboratory of DGHM. All S. aureus and MRSA isolates were confirmed using standard microbiological methods. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected from medical records. Based on the antibiotic profile, isolates were identified as HA-MRSA (often resistant to β-lactam antibiotics as well as erythromycin, clindamycin and fluoroquinolones) and CA-MRSA (often resistant only to ß-lactam agents, erythromycin and occasionally to fluoroquinolones), as described by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA. A total of 103 S. aureus isolates were collected from the laboratory during the study period.