ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

Research Article | Open Access
Siham Sh. AL-Salihi1, Gulbahar F. Karim2 , Asmaa M.S. Al-Bayati1 and Hiro Mohammed Obaid1
1Department of Medical Laboratory Techniques, College of Health and Medical Techniques, Northern Technical University, Kirkuk, Iraq.
2Department of Basic Sciences, College of Nursing, University of Kirkuk, Kirkuk, Iraq.
Article Number: 8068 | © The Author(s). 2023
J Pure Appl Microbiol. 2023;17(1):329-337. https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.17.1.22
Received: 31 August 2022 | Accepted: 05 December 2022 | Published online: 01 March 2023
Issue online: March 2023
Abstract

The carriage of community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus (CA-MRSA) has become a source of community-associated infections, particularly in the anterior nares of people worldwide. This study was aimed at determining the prevalence of community-acquired S. aureus (CA-SA) and CA-MRSA nasal carriage among healthy individuals of various ages in Kirkuk City and evaluating the susceptibility of isolates to various antibiotics. A total of 597 healthy individuals were recruited in the community between December 1, 2021, and December 30, 2022. Nasal swabs obtained from participants were taken to the laboratory, where bacteria were isolated and identified using phenotypic characteristics. The MRSA isolates were identified by applying the modified Kirby Bauer disc diffusion technique. The results showed that the prevalence of CA-SA and CA-MRSA nasal carriers was 16.6 and 4.5%, respectively. The average age of the participants was 33.2 years, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.1: 1. The highest resistance of the isolates was observed against oxacillin (27.3%), followed by penicillin G (24.3%), amoxicillin (15.2%), erythromycin (12.1%), and tetracycline (6.1%). There was a 9.1% resistance rate to clindamycin, rifampin, gentamycin, and ciprofloxacin. However, all CA-MRSA isolates were multi-drug resistant. However, all the isolates were sensitive (100 %) to vancomycin, linezolid, and mupirocin. The findings of the present study highlight the potential for CA-SA and CA-MRSA acquisition in this population, which may be related to antibiotic abuse or overuse as well as poor hygiene. To lessen the impact of community-associated strains of MRSA nasal carriage, this necessitates the probable need for infection prevention measures and adequate antibiotic therapy.

Keywords

Prevalence, Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA Nasal Carriage, Antibiotic Resistant, CA-MRSA

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© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which permits unrestricted use, sharing, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.