ORIGINAL ARTICLE Inducible Clindamycin Resistance in Staphylococcus

In modern medical practice, multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates have limited therapeutic options. Clindamycin is a useful drug in treating Staphylococcal infection. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of inducible clindamycin resistance in clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus. Inducible clindamycin resistance was tested by the clindamycin disc induction test D-zone test) as recommended by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) previously known as NCCLS), 2004 guidelines. 18.6 % of Staphylococcus aureus isolates were positive for inducible clindamycin resistance and belonged to the iMLSB phenotype. All iMLSB phenotypes (100%) were sensitive to vancomycin and linezolid, Moreover, all iMLSB phenotypes were methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). We conclude that the clindamycin disc induction test (D-zone test) is easy, which should be performed routinely by all clinical microbiology laboratories to guide the clinicians about the iMLSB phenotype of Staphylococcus aureus to prevent misuse of antibiotics