Prevalence of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections among Hospitalized Wound Patients from Selected Tertiary Hospitals within Enugu Metropolis

The incidence of Staphylococcus aureus infection especially in wound infections continues to rise. This study was aimed to evaluate the prevalence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in hospitalized patients with wound infections in selected tertiary hospitals within Enugu metropolis. A total of 385 samples comprising mainly of wound swabs were collected using Levine’s technique and cultured on blood agar, MacConkey agar and Mannitol salt agar. Staphylococcus aureus was identified based on their conventional cultural characteristics, gram staining reactions and biochemical tests. Statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 25.0 package. A total of 188 (48.8%) Staphylococcus aureus were isolated from 385 patients with wound infections. Of 188 Staphylococcus aureus isolates, 86 (22.3%) were identified as methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and 102(26.5%), methicillin susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) respectively. The prevalence rate of MRSA according to the gender of the participants was 37(9.6%) for males and 49(12.7%) for the females with a mean age of 31.77. Generally, the isolates showed the highest resistance to Ampicillin (100%), Penicillin (100%) and Cefoxitin (100%) and were moderately sensitive to Clindamycin (52.3%) and Gentamycin (54.7%). No statistical significance was established (P>0.05) among these factors. This study highlighted high prevalence of MRSA among hospitalized wound patients and as such, the need for infection control strengthening in hospitals cannot be overemphasized.