ABSTRACT

 The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated from hospital environment in Umudike. Most of the samples were collected from hospital workers, equipment (such as forceps and trays), door handlers and bed with the aid of a swab stick and was transported to the laboratory to test for further analysis. The swabs were streaked directly on media plates, the plates were then incubated at 37°C for 24 to 48 hours. From the result the prevalence rate of S. aureus among hospital equipment was found to high in door handle with 5(71.4%), followed by Bed 5(62.5%), Tables 4(57.1%), Kidney dish 2(50.0%) and Tray 2(33.3). The lowest frequency occurrence was found in Cupboards with (0.0%). The drug susceptibility profile of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from hospital equipment to the following antibiotic drugs, Ceftriaxone, Levofloxacin, Ofloxacin, Gentamicin, Ciprofloxacin, Cefepime, Cefotaxime, Azithromycin and Imipenem. From the result it was observed that S. aureus was highly susceptible to Ofloxacin with 90.4% followed by Levofloxacin with 85.7%, Ciprofloxacin with 76.2% and Gentamicin with 76.1.3%. The resistance of S. aureus was highly observed in Azithromycin with 57.1%. The prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus in hospital environment was 61.9%. In conclusion, the degree of resistance or sensitivity ofMethicillin Resistance Staphylococcus aure us towards commonly used antibiotics is recognized to be diverse from region to region and Ofloxacin and Levofloxacin was the only antibiotic found to give uniform sensitivity.