A Comparitive Study of Community – and Health Care Associated Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Infections

Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is now a worldwide phenomenon. The exceptional ability of this pathogen to colonize patients and staff has resulted in widespread epidemics in hospitals. Nowadays reports of community associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) in patients without identifiable risk factors point to an ongoing epidemiological shift. The present study was conducted in the department of Microbiology, Pt BD Sharma, PGIMS, Rohtak. During one year study period, 575 S.aureus strains were isolated from various clinical samples out of which 185(32.17%) were MRSA. Out of these 34(18.38%) were CA-MRSA and 151(81.38%) were hospital acquired MRSA (HA-MRSA). Previous exposure to antimicrobial agents, presence of invasive devices and past history of similar disease were important risk factors for HA-MRSA and CA-MRSA cases. In HA-MRSA, most common underlying chronic disease was diabetes mellitus (27.8%). A high rate of multidrug resistance was seen in HA-MRSA in comparison to CA-MRSA strains. Therefore, there is a clear need to keep track of the MRSA infections and to formulate guidelines for empirical therapy to minimize spread of MRSA before