ABSTRACT

The antimicrobial susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus in Umuahia metropolis was investigated. A total of 32 isolates were collected from 1 0 medical laboratories in Umuahia metropolis. Thirty (30) of the isolates were identified as S. aureus while two (2) were identified as other bacteria. The antimicrobial susceptibility was carried out on these 30 S. aureus isolates using the disc agar diffusion method to determine the diameter zone of inhibition and broth dilution method to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the antibiotics against the isolates. Of the thirty (30) isolates tested, 28 (93%) were resistance to erythromycin and Chloramphenicol. 18 (60%) were resistant to gentamicin and 19 (63%) were resistant to tetracycline. All the isolates (100%) were resistant to penicillin, cloxacillin, and ampicillin. Seven (7) (23%) isolates were sensitive to gentamicin, 6 (20%) to streptomycin and 2 (7%) to chloramphenicol. The isolates manifested various levels of intermediate sensitivity to some of the antibiotics. In all, fifteen (15) (50%) isolates were sensitive to four different antibiotics namely; gentamicin, streptomycin, erythromycin and chloramphenicol. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIIC) of the antibiotics against the isolates ranged from 1 g/ml - 128 .t/ml.