ABSTRACT

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is an important opportunistic pathogen that causes infection in human. The aim of this study was to isolate Staphylococcus aureus from the nostrils of Primary School Pupils in Urnudike, to determine the antibiotic susceptibility of the isolated S. aureus and to assess the prevalence of nasal carriage of S.aureus among the pupils. A total of 50 samples were collected from the nostrils of Primary School Pupils in Umudike. The samples were cultured using Mannitol Salt Agar; biochemical tests (catalase and coagulase) were carried out on the cultured organism and the isolates were Gram stained to confirm the presence of Staphylococcus aureus. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was carried out using Kirby-Bauer diffusion method. Various antibiotics used include Imipenem (10µg), Cefuroxinie (30µg), Ofloxacin (5µg), Gentamicin (10µg), Azithromycin (15µg), Cefotaxime (30 µg), Ceftriazone-sulbactam (30µg), Levofloxacin (5µg), Ciprofloxacin (5µg), Cefexirne (5µg). A total of 19 S. aureus were isolated from 50 samples. The isolates demonstrated high level of susceptibility to levofloxacin (78.6%), Ofloxacin (73.7%), Gentamicin (57.9%), Ciprofloxacin (52.6%) and less in Cefiriazones-ulbactam (21.1%), Azithromycin (26.3%), Cefuroxime (10.5%), Imipenem (5.3%) and no susceptibility to Cefotaxime (0.00%), Cefixime (0.00%). From my observations, it can be concluded that the nose provides an environment in which S. aureus can propagate and maintain itself for prolonged periods, as nose colonization with S aureus is a risk factor for the development of staphylococcal infection, education on control of spread among pupils should be given to avoid invasion of the organism to other parts of the body.