Antibacterial Susceptibility Study of <i>Staphylococcus Aureus</i> Isolated from Selected Hospitals and Non-Hospitals Fomites, In Bakura of Zamfara State

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is a pathogenic microorganism that is responsible for mild to life threatening infection. It is one of the common causes of hospital and community acquired disease particularly in rural communities where there is poor sanitation practice. In carrying out the treatment process of S. aureus it appears to be difficult due to the incidence of methicillin resistant S. aureus that shows a significant public health challenge. Therefore the available options on the treatment of the S. aureus are significantly inadequate. The Hospital and non-hospital fomites are being increasingly observed as a significant means of transmission of S. aureus infections in the community. In this study the common hospital and non-hospital fomites were tested to study the occurrence of S. aureus,and their susceptibility to the most commonly used antibacterial agents in the treatment of methicillin resistance S. aureus infection. The hospital and non-hospital fomites were obtained using a cotton swab procedure. The isolates of S. aureus were identified using their morphological characterization on mannitol salt agar and biochemical analysis. Susceptibility of the isolated S. aureus to selected antibacterial agentswere determined using a disc diffusion method. Getting to70% of sampled fomites were positive for S. aureus. Hospital and nonhospital isolates of S. aureus have shown a similar susceptibility pattern to selected antibacterial agents except in their susceptibility to ciprofloxacin and Amoxil. By considering the results obtained in this study it shows that fomites may have a significant risk of S. aureus infection.