A study on nasal carriage of staphylococcus species among medical and paramedical students in a tertiary care hospital, Coimbatore

Introduction: Staphylococci are a part of the normal flora of the human body. They are ubiquitous in nature and they cause a variety of infections ranging from suppurative lesions like folliculitis, abscess, wound infections to urinary tract infections, toxic shock syndrome etc. The carriage of this species can be of nasal, vaginal or perineal origin. The emergence of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has evoked the need to screen for carriers since the treatment options available are very limited. Aim: A cross- sectional study was conducted among the medical and paramedical students to detect the nasal carriage of Staphylococcal species with emphasis on Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Materials and Methods: Nasal swabs were collected from the subjects and the identification of different Staphylococcal species was done by correlating the results of Gram stain by light microscopy, Colonial morphology by culture, Biochemical reactions and Antibiotic Susceptibility Test results. The results were tabulated and the data was statistically analysed with IBM SPSS version 20 software. Results: Out of the 310 samples that were collected, 191 (61.61 %) samples showed Staphylococcal growth. A total of 75 (39.26%) isolates out of the 191 isolates were found to be Staphylococcus aureus. Out of which 13(6.8%) isolates were Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Conclusion: The nasal carriage of Staphylococcal species, especially MRSA in healthy individuals carries a potential risk. In this study, a 6.8% incidence of MRSA was noticed among 191 Staphylococcal samples. Topical methods like nasal sprays or ointments of mupirocin or chlorhexidine can be employed to prevent the spread of the species.