Prevalence of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among medical students in Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus presents with a broad-spectrum severity. Some reports have outlined the potential risk of medical students being part of the dissemination of the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in hospital setting. The objectives of this study are to determine the prevalence of nasal carriage of MRSA among medical students in Delta state university teaching hospital, Oghara DELSUTH, investigate antibiotic susceptibility patterns, and explore the frequency and distribution of MRSA in DELSUTH. A case study of 65 students in 400level to 600 levels, 28 males and 35 females, ethical approval was taken from the hospital’s research and ethics committee before the commencement of collection of samples. Nasal swabs were collected from each student and cultured for isolation of Staphylococcus aureus; biochemical tests were carried out for identification. The prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus from the collected samples from the students was 38.5%. Recording the highest in females which was 32.3% and males 6.2%. After antibiotics susceptibility testing with oxacillin it was shown that 70.3% of the isolated sample was resistant to oxacillin. The prevalence of MRSA was 26.15%. The prevalence of MRSA in males was 0% and 33.9% in females. The overall prevalence rate was high which indicates the need for an antimicrobial stewardship program to reduce the carriage and transmission of MRSA by medical students. Staphylococcus aureus.