THE FREQUENCY OF METHICILLIN-RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS (MRSA) IN HEALTHY NASAL CARRIERS IN POMORAVLJE DISTRICT

S. aureus is a frequent cause of infections both in hospital setting and outside it. The growing resistance of this pathogen to beta-lactam and other antibiotics complicates the treatment. The aim in this study was to investigate the frequency of nasal carriage of S. aureus among healthy population who can be the source of infection, as well as a share of MRSA colonisation. We analyzed 5.776 throat and nose swab samples taken from adult healthy population; the swabs were analyzed in microbiology labs of the Public Health Institute Ćuprija. The isolates were identifided by standard procedures based on clumping factor production and using manitol-salt agar with novobiocin disk. Methicillin resistance was determined by disk-diffusion with a 30 mcg cefoxitin disk. The prevalence of nasal MRSA colonisation was 3,63%; 4,29% of subjects were nasal carriers of S. Aureus.The values obtained in this paper are in keeping with data obtained in other European countries. The prevalence of MRSA among carriers is low, and the treatment to complete absence of germs and implementing measures to prevent the spread of infection are therefore urgently needed