| Summary: | This cross-sectional study investigated the <i>Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)</i> and methicillin-resistant <i>S. aureus</i> (MRSA) nasopharyngeal carriage epidemiology in Accra approximately five years post-pneumococcal conjugate vaccines introduction in the country. Archived nasopharyngeal swabs collected from 410 children aged under five years old were bacteriologically cultured. The resultant <i>S. aureus</i> isolates were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing and screening for carriage of the <i>mecA</i> and <i>LukF-PV</i> (<i>pvl</i>) genes, following standard procedures. The data obtained were analyzed with Statistical Products and Services Solutions (SPSS) using descriptive statistics and Chi square tests of associations. The isolated bacteria decreased across coagulase-negative Staphylococci (47.3%, <i>n</i> = 194), <i>S. aureus</i> (23.2%, <i>n</i> = 95), Diphtheroids (5.4%, <i>n</i> = 22), <i>Micrococcus</i> species (3.7%, <i>n</i> = 15), <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> (3.2%, <i>n</i> = 13), <i>Moraxella</i> species and <i>Citrobacter</i> species (1.5% each, <i>n</i> = 6), <i>Escherichia coli</i>, <i>Enterobacter</i> species, and <i>Pseudomonas</i> species (0.9% each, <i>n</i> = 2). The MRSA carriage prevalence was 0.49% (<i>n</i> = 2). Individuals aged 37–48 months recorded the highest proportion of <i>S. aureus</i> carriage (32.6%, 31/95). Resistance of <i>S. aureus</i> to the antibiotics tested were penicillin G (97.9%, <i>n</i> = 93), amoxiclav (20%, <i>n</i> = 19), tetracycline (18.9%, <i>n</i> = 18), erythromycin (5.3%, <i>n</i> = 5), ciprofloxacin (2.1%, <i>n</i> = 2), gentamicin (1.1%, <i>n</i> = 1), cotrimoxazole, clindamycin, linezolid, and teicoplanin (0% each). No inducible clindamycin resistance was observed for the erythromycin-resistant isolates. Three (3.2%) of the isolates were multidrug resistant, of which 66.7% (2/3) were MRSA. The <i>pvl</i> gene was associated with 59.14% (55/93) of the methicillin-sensitive <i>S. aureus</i> (MSSA) isolates, but was not detected among any of the MRSA isolates.
|
|---|
