| dc.description.abstract | Staphylococcus aureus causes the most prevalent bacterial infections in
haemodialysis patients. Compared to healthy controls, patients undergoing chronic
haemodialysis have an increased risk of Staphylococcus aureus nasal colonization
and most of these infections are of endogenous origin. Since the haemodialysis
patients are immunocompromised, both methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus
(MSSA) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are responsible for
vascular access site infections. The objective of this study was to determine the
prevalence of nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus, its antimicrobial resistance
pattern, and factors associated with Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage in patients
on haemodialysis at the Haemodialysis Unit, Teaching Hospital Jaffna. A hospitalbased
descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 79 haemodialysis
patients, at Haemodialysis Unit, Teaching Hospital Jaffna. Nasal swabs were
collected and inoculated onto blood and MacConkey agar. Gram staining, catalase
and coagulase tests were done. An antibiotic sensitivity pattern was tested
according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) method. The P <
.05 was considered as statistically significant. The prevalence of nasal carriage for
Staphylococcus aureus was 16.5% (12.7 % MSSA, 3.8 % MRSA) in 79 haemodialysis
patients. Among the isolated Staphylococcus aureus, 30.8% were resistant to
erythromycin, 23.1% to cefoxitin and clindamycin. However, all the isolates were
sensitive to ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, teicoplanin and vancomycin. There was a
significant association of Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage with previous use of
antibiotics, vascular access type, diabetes mellitus, and recent hospitalizations.
Screening of Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage at regular intervals and optimized
antibiotic prescriptions will protect haemodialysis patients from more severe
clinical pictures. | en_US |
