Abstract:
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is the major causative bacterial pathogen responsible for hospital and community associated infections. Currently, MRSA is divided into two subgroups: the healthcare associated MRSA (HA-MRSA) and community associated MRSA (CA-MRSA). HA-MRSA is the major problem in nosocomial infections. For instance, patients in hospital with open wounds, invasive devices or under immune compromised conditions are at much higher risk of getting HA-MRSA infection. On the other hand, CA-MRSA has recently risen as a major public health concern. The study was conducted to find the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of HAMRSA & CA-MRSA in a tertiary care hospital of rural West Bengal. In this hospital based prospective study, 940 samples collected over a three months period were analyzed phenotypically using conventional microbiological methods. Subsequently, the antibiotic sensitivity tests were performed for the confirmed MRSA isolates. Of the 940 clinical specimens included in the present study, only 431 were growth positive out of which 122 were identified as S.aureus. Among the 122 S. aureus isolated, 23 were MRSA. Out of the 23 MRSA isolates 15 were HA-MRSA and 8 were CAMRSA. The study revealed that the prevalence of HA-MRSA (65.21%) infections is higher than CA-MRSA (34.78%) in our hospital. The resistance to different antibiotics of HA-MRSA is not significantly different to that of CA-MRSA. While the incidence of MRSA in this study is lower that other parts of India, HA- MRSA contributes a larger percentage in the total.
