Prevalence of nasal carriage of staphylococcus aureus and its antibiotic susceptibility pattern among primary school children in a rural area of Puducherry, India

Staphylococcus aureus is a common pathogen responsible for community and hospital associated infections. There is increasing evidence that Community acquired methicillin resistant (CA -MRSA) is spreading among healthy individuals especially children. Our present study is done to determine the colonization rates of S.aureus in the nasal cavity of school children. Nasal swab was collected from (n=265) primary school children aged 3- 8 years and transported to the laboratory within 30 minutes. The samples were processed in the microbiology laboratory as per standard protocol. The carrier rate of S.aureus isolated from the nasal cavity was 76/265 (29%). The colonization rates in males were 44 (17%) and females were 32 (12%) which shows colonization rate is higher among males than females. The prevalence of MRSA among them was 7/265 (2.6%) which is of 9.2% (7/76) of S. aureus. The study concluded that the prevalence rate of S.aureus in our study was 29% and MRSA (2.6%) in healthy children without prior health care visit or intake of antibiotics. The observed precipitating factor was poor personal hygiene. By strengthening school health program and imparting health education regarding personal hygiene is the simple but effective way to contain CA -MRSA among school children in India.