You are here:

Prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a tertiary hospital in Nepal

Published on

Updated:

To ensure that scientific research of immediate concern is shared as rapidly as possible, we fast-track accepted articles from the IJTLD and PHA and publish them as edited preprints prior to publication in an issue.

All content in PHA is Open Access and free to read. PHA covers all areas of operational research including: infection control, nutrition, TB, HIV,  vaccines, smoking, COVID-19, microbial resistance or disease outbreaks. Find out more about PHA or sign-up to receive the Table of Contents

Read the PDF for the full text, including the Figures, Tables and References

P. Pradhan, P. Rajbhandari, S. B. Nagaraja, P. Shrestha, R. Grigoryan, S. Satyanarayana, H. Davtyan

SUMMARY

SETTING: Patan Hospital, Lalitpur, Nepal.

OBJECTIVES: To describe 1) the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and its antibiotic sensitivity pattern; 2) the demographic and clinical characteristics associated with MRSA infections; and 3) the treatment outcomes of in-patients with MRSA infection among patients with S. aureus infection between January2018 and December 2020.

DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional study using electronic and paper-based hospital records of patients with S. aureusinfection.

RESULTS: Of the 1,804 patients with S. aureus infection, 1,027 patients (57%, 95% CI 55–59) had MRSA. The MRSA were susceptible to vancomycin (100%), linezolid (96%), doxycycline (96%), chloramphenicol (86%) and cotrimoxazole (70%), and resistant to erythromycin (68%), clindamycin (56%), gentamycin (58%), ciprofloxacin (92%) and ofloxacin (91%). The prevalence of MRSA was higher in 2019, among out-patients, and in respiratory samples, and lower in blood samples. Of the 142 in-patients with MRSA, 93% had a successful clinical outcome (cured/improved).

CONCLUSION: More than 50% of patients with S. aureus infection had MRSA that were resistant to commonly available antibiotics. This calls for strengthening surveillance and good infection control practices in this hospital.