A surveillance of MRSA nasal carriage in Community and Health Care Workers

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is both a human commensal & an important pathogen in disease. It is a
frequent cause of infections in both community and hospital. Being the principal habitant in human nares, S.
aureus is known to disseminate to various body parts through hands, contributing to its infectious
epidemiology. The current study was designed to evaluate the frequency of nasal carriage by Methicillin
Resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in healthy volunteers of Mirpur-Khas region. Both, Community Associated
Population (CAP) and Hospital Associated Population (HAP) were targeted. A total of 207 nasal swab samples
were processed for the isolation of S. aureus. 27% (n=56) of the samples were positive for S. aureus, of which
59% (n=33) were identified as MRSA strains. The OR for nasal carriage by S. aureus and colonization by
MRSA in HAP was calculated to be 4 and 12.05, with statistically significant p-values as (P = 0.0001) and (P
= 0.001) respectively. The OR for nasal carriage by S. aureus and colonization by MRSA in male population
was calculated to be 0.77 and 1.04, with p-values as (P = 0.194) and (P = 0.938) respectively, suggesting
statistically insignificant evidence for gender association.