Staphylococcus aureus colonization in Qazvin University hospitals healthcare workers

Abstract

Background: Staphylococcus aureus (SA) colonization of hospital personnel is a source of hospital acquired infections. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of nasal carriage rate of SA and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among Health Care Workers (HCWs) at Qazvin university hospitals. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 396 employees of five teaching hospitals from October 2016 to April 2017. After obtaining informed consent and completion of the questionnaire, a sample was taken from the anterior nasal cavity for microbiology. The isolation of SA and their antimicrobial sensitivity were carried out by standard bacteriological procedures (disk diffusion and E-Test method). MRSA were confirmed by cefoxitin disk diffusion test. Chi square and independent t test were used to analyze the collected data. Findings: From the 198 HCWs, 32 people (16.1%) carried SA that the most carriers were workers of intensive care units (20.3%). 3% of all HCWs were identified as MRSA carriers. Colonization with SA is significantly lower among nursing and higher education. All SA isolates were sensitive to vancomycin and rifampin. Conclusion: The rate of nasal SA (especially MRSA) carriage among HCWs of Qazvin university hospitals is low. Also, staff teaching appears to be a promising approach for reducing nasal carrier. Rifampin and mupirocin, for eradication of Staphylococcus colonization in health workers (even MRSA) are acceptable.

Prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization in the emergency department health care workers

“…Thus, colonization of the nasal mucosa of hospital staff, students, and patients' care givers who are in direct contact with these patients may potentially be responsible for the transmission of the infection. 11,12 In Iran, the rate of nasal carriage of MRSA in health care workers is between 3% to 10.8% 13,14 and its prevalence has been reported to be 73% in Saudi Arabia, 15 15.1% in Oman, 16 8.4% in Ethiopia, 17 2.4% in Ecuador, 18 0% in Thailand, 19 9.3% in Pakistan 20 and 6.3% in Argentina. 21 In our study, the range of nasal carriage of MRSA among health care providers was 3.1% and the prevalence was low in our hospital.…”

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in air and surfaces of hospital wards: a comparison between new and old buildings

“…To the best of our knowledge, previous research in Qazvin city, Iran, has tended to focus on MRSA strains that are isolated from patients and personnel and have considered individual factors such as age, gender, type of disease, etc. (12)(13)(14), while MRSA transmission factors as contamination of air and fomites in hospitals and some environmental parameters have not been examined. A key drawback with much of the study on MRSA infections is that researchers have described prevalence of this pathogen in clinical isolates, and monitoring of hospital environments as infection prevention and control have not been noted.…”