Prevalence and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern of Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Samples of Students of Alex-Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike Nigeria

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus” (MRSA) is a type of S. aureus that is resistant to some of the antibiotics that are often used to treat S. aureus infections. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from urine samples of students of Alex-Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ebonyi State. A total of seventy (70) urine samples were collected from both male (35) and female (35) students of Alex-Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ebonyi State, transported to Microbiology shared laboratory of the same institution within two hours of collection. The samples were inoculated unto nutrient broth for overnight incubation. They were then sub-cultured aerobically at 370C on MacConkey agar plates for 24-48 hrs. Then the plates were examined to quantify the organisms present according to Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) guidelines. Antimicrobial susceptibility was carried out using disc diffusion method. Out of the 70 urine samples analyzed, 55(75.5%) were positive for Staphylococcus aureus. The 55 Staphylococcus aureus was further screened for MRSA, 44 was shown to be MRSA positive (80%). S. aureus and MRSA were shown to be more prevalent amongst females with 32(91.4%) than the males 23(65.7%). The age group with the highest S. aureus was those between the age of 20-24 years (82.5%) while the group with the highest MRSA was from 25-30 years 100%. Antimicrobial susceptibility results showed that S. aureus was highly susceptible to ampicillin (90%), Amoxicillin-Clavulanic (85%), Gentamycin (60%) and O(50%) and resistant to MRSA. Prompt medical attention and sensitization about this public health menace is advocated in this institution.