Staphylococcus aureus can cause a variety of infections due to its high transmissibility, high pathogenic potential and resistance to multiple drugs, factors that contribute to the relevance of infections in healthcare services. The aim of this study was to document phenotypic and genotypic resistance factors of Staphylococcus aureus strains, isolated from nasal mucosa of medical students. A nasal swab was collected from the nares (nostrils) of 222 medical students. After collection, the samples were submitted to isolation and identification procedures. From 204 valid samples, 20.6% (42 samples) were positive for S. aureus. For the assessment of phenotypic resistance by disk-diffusion technique, from 42 samples, 95.2% showed resistance to erythromycin, 42.8% to clindamycin, 16.6% to cephoxitin and 9.5% to oxacillin. The D test showed that 26.2% of samples were resistant to macrolides, lincosamides and streptogramin B. A PCR assay allowed for the evaluation of a genotypic resistance profile, in which 16.6% of the samples were positive for the mecA gene, 35.7% positive for the ermC gene or ermA gene and 28.5% were positive for both genes. These results demonstrate that medical students can enter the healthcare service previously colonized by multidrug resistant strains and become potential spreaders in the hospital environment.
Staphylococcus aureus causes a large variety of infections, where many of them are acquired in the hospital environment. A significant part of the population is a nasal carrier of this type of microorganism. The present study evaluated the nasal colonization by S. aureus, identifying its resistance profile in nursing students from a private educational institute of higher education. Nasal swab samples were collected and identified for S. aureus. Moreover, an antibiogram assay was performed, followed by the search for ermA and ermC genes using PCR. Sixty-two students were included and we isolated 20 positive samples (32,5%) for S. aureus. For the phenotypic profile, 30% were found to be resistant to Erythromycin and 10% to Oxacillin and Cefoxitin. For the D-test in the genotypic profile, 25% presented mecA gene (MRSA), 5% of ermA gene, 35% of ermC gene and 10% with ermC and mecA genes. These data reinforce the necessity of monitoring bacterial colonization in hospital environment, which are potentially resistant in health professionals.
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