Phenotypic and Molecular Detection of Methicilin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Clinical Samples in some Selected Hospitals in Dutsin-Ma and Kurfi LGAS, Katsina State, Nigeria

Mark Ahmed Dangari, Abubakar Adam Sunusi, Kabir Muhammad Salihu and Aminu Ado

Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Federal University Dutsin-MA, Nigeria

*Corresponding author’s Email: markahmeddangari@gmail.com, doi.org/10.55639/607.403938


ABSTRACT

The methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is becoming increasingly important as a nosocomial pathogen; it has been associated with high mortality and present significant difficulty in the management of patients due to it cross resistance with other antibiotics. A total of 192 clinical samples were collected and cultured on mannitol salt agar (MSA). Gram positive cocci in cluster that shows mannitol fermentation on MSA and are both catalase and coagulase positive were identified as S. aureus. Disc diffusion method was employed to test for the sensitivity of the isolates against five antibiotics (erythromycin, ciprofloxacin, ampicillin, gentamicin and cefoxitin), the isolates that showed resistance to cefoxitin 30μg were noted as MRSA, and were further confirmed for the presence of mec A using specific PCR primer. A total of 52(27.1%) S. aureus isolates were recovered from the 192 samples collected. Thirty three (63.5%) of the 52 isolates were identified as MRSA, and 24 (46.2%) of these were positive for the mec A gene. Among the 52 isolates, 26 (50.0%) were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, 5 (9.6%) to amoxicillin, 20 (38.5%) to gentamicin, 14 (26.9%) to erythromycin and 19(36.5%) to cefoxitin. The highest level of resistance was observed for ampicillin (90.4%)and thirty-three (63.5%) were identified as multidrug resistant (show resistance to 3 or more classes of antibiotics). Our finding shows the evidence of MRSA both by phenotypic and molecular method in the four selected hospitals in Dutsin-Ma and Kurifi LGAs. This necessitates the need for increased surveillance, tracking and reporting of infections and antimicrobial resistance in our hospitals. A more detail and wider scope study should be carried out to generate a comprehensive data on antimicrobial resistance; such research should be targeted to genes not covered by the present study.

Keywords:

MRSA,
mecA gene,
S. aureus,
Molecular Detection,