Constant surveillance and adequate infection control measures for
Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin Resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) may reduce their roles in the incidence of nosocomial diseases and other infections in a clinical setting. However, there is a paucity of data
on S. aureus prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility in low resource settings such as Ghana [
1]. Most available data on
S. aureus prevalence in Africa are patient-based, although the ‘one health’ concept (including environmental persistence) must be considered if this organism is to be effectively controlled. The ease of spread of resistant strains of
S. aureus or MRSA cannot be overemphasized, especially in the Ghanaian context, where both environmental and personal hygiene are still rudimentary [
2,
3].
S. aureus is known for its ability to develop resistance to almost all antibiotics, which makes it challenging to treat the range of infections it causes. There are reports of increasing resistance by MRSA and Methicillin Susceptible
S. aureus (MSSA) to drugs of choice [
4]. Very few published studies exist on investigating environmental samples as sources of possible nosocomial diseases in Ghana and in Africa in general. However, a study in the neonatal intensive care unit in Accra identified
S. aureus as the predominant bacteria (44%) found in the hospital environment [
5]. Similar work on swab samples in the hospital environment in Nigeria also recorded
S. aureus as the most prevalent microbe (50.80%) in the hospital environment [
6] and a study of door handles and bathtubs in the hospital environment in Benin implicated the Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) producing
S. aureus as a cause of nosocomial diseases [
7]. In the USA, current estimates indicate MRSA causes approximately 95,000 invasive infections and 19,000 mortality cases per year, which is higher than the mortality rates caused by AIDS/Human Immunodeficiency Virus, hepatitis, tuberculosis and influenza combined [
8]. The prevalence of multi-drug resistant MRSA in clinical isolates has been reported to be very high in some African countries including Morocco, Kenya, Nigeria and Cameroon [
9].
In the Tamale Metropolis of Ghana,
S. aureus has been implicated in 60.9% of sepsis cases among children in the Tamale Teaching Hospital [
10].
S. aureus was also reported to be the commonest contaminant found in donor blood in Tamale with the following resistance pattern: 71.5, 28.6, 71.5 and 10% to Ampicillin, Ciprofloxacin, Tetracycline and Erythromycin respectively [
11]. In Ghana,
S. aureus is the third most commonly isolated microbe from patients, after
E. coli and
Pseudomonas spp. [
12], the second most prevalent bacteria among patients from teaching, regional and district hospitals with a multi-drug resistant rate of 42.3% [
13], and the second most frequently isolated organism in bacteremia incidence in the Ashanti Region of Ghana [
14].
The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility of S. aureus and Methicillin Resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in the environments of three hospitals in Ghana. Specifically, the objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of S. aureus and MRSA on the door handles, stair railings, tap handles and surgical room aprons in the environment of three hospitals, and to determine the antibiotic susceptibility levels of isolated S. aureus and MRSA.