assessment of the frequency of staphylococcus aureus carriers and its antibiotic susceptibility in paramedical students in rafsanjan university of medical sciences, iran

background: methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (mrsa) is resistant to most antibiotics and is an important pathogen of nosocomial infections. the prevalence of community (ca-mrsa) and hospital acquired methicillin-resistant s. aureus (ha-mrsa) infection is increased. in this study we investigated the frequency of mrsa colonization and its antibiotic susceptibility in students of rafsanjan university of medical sciences, iran. materials and methods: in this cross-sectional study, we evaluated 200 nursing, midwifery and paramedical students. nasal swabs were taken from all cases and were cultured on a blood medium agar. methicillin resistance was confirmed using oxacillin and cefoxcitin disks. inducible clinadamycin resistance was identified using d-zone test. demographic and specific information were collected by questionnaire. data were analyzed by chi-square test. results: among 200 studied cases, the frequency of nasal carriers for s. aureus was 5%. six (60%) out of 10 s. aureus isolates were mrsa strains. fifty percent of mrsa and 25% of methicillin-susceptible s. aureus (mssa) were resistant to clindamycin. four out of 6 strains of mrsa and 1 of the mssa strains were resistant to erythromycin and d test was positive in 50% of cases. conclusions: nasal carriers of the resistant strains of s. aureus are always a serious threat to themselves and others. the rate of mrsa colonization, especially clindamycin-resistant strains, was high among studied cases, emphesizing the need for screening s. aureus.