High Frequency of Methicillin-Resistant and Multidrug-Resistant Strains of Colonizing Students in Okada, Edo State, Nigeria.

is one of the most common bacterial pathogens, often asymptomatically colonizing healthy people, but capable of causing fatal disease. The ability to treat infections is limited by the rapid spread of multidrug-resistant strains. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of carriage among students from Okada, Edo State, Nigeria, to analyze the antibiotic resistance patterns and molecular characteristics of isolates. One hundred healthy students from Okada, Nigeria, were tested for nasal colonization by Isolates were identified using standard microbiological methods. The susceptibilities of the isolates to a panel of 22 antimicrobials were tested. and staphylococcal cassette chromosome typing were performed. The prevalence of and methicillin-resistant (MRSA) among the students was 23% and 6%, respectively. Of the six (26.1%; 6/23) MRSA isolates detected, CC88-MRSA-IVa ( = 2) and CC7-MRSA-V ( = 2) were the most frequent clones. The CC7-MRSA-V isolates were resistant to multiple antimicrobials. Overall, resistance to beta-lactams, tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones, and aminoglycosides was detected among the and MRSA isolates. The high prevalence of MRSA and methicillin-susceptible isolates with resistance to multiple antimicrobial classes observed among the students is an alarming finding. This study indicated the circulation of resistant clones of in Nigerian educational institutions and the community.