Prevalence and molecular characteristics of MRSA nasal carriage among hospital care workers in a tertiary hospital in the Philippines.

Background: Hospital-care workers (HCWs) are at risk for MRSA carriage, subsequent infection and potential transmission of nosocomial infection. Epidemiological typing of MRSA among HCWs would provide data that can be used for control measures.

Methods: This is a cross sectional study that involved 92 participants from pediatric and surgery department of a tertiary hospital. Nasal swabs were collected and inoculated onto MRSASelect Chromogenic Media. Samples characterized as MRSA underwent SCCmec typing and detection of Panton Valentine leucocidin (PVL) by PCR.

Results: The overall prevalence of MRSA was 13%. Six were from Pediatrics and another six were from Surgery. Seven out of 12 MRSA isolates carried SCCmec type I gene and five isolates carried SCCmec type IV gene. Six samples were found positive for PVL, four of which PVL-SSCmec IV, while the other two isolates were PVL-SCCmec I. The isolates were grouped into four main sequence types (STs) namely ST 1147, ST30, ST5 and ST97. Two samples from both departments were found to be PVL-positive SCCmec I ST 30; PVL-positive SCCmec IV ST 97 was found in two MRSA samples from Pediatrics and PVL-positive SCCmec IV ST 30 from Surgery.

Conclusion: Data collected from a non-outbreak setting suggest the presence of different clones of MRSA from nasal swabs of HCWs belonging to the Department of Pediatrics and Surgery. The data collected by this study can be used as reference for other succeeding studies on the surveillance of MRSA among HCWs.