Abstract

A survey of the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of Staphylococcus aureus strains from clinical and skin isolates grown at 37 and 44^oC respectively were carried out in Irrua Nigeria. Of the 240 different specimens, 50(20.8%) S. aureus isolates were reported. The highest carrier rate of S. aureus (48%) occurred in wound swab while the least (8.0%) was reported on the healthy skin of the volunteers. The susceptibility of the clinical isolates (10.4%) was lower than the isolates from the skin (36.7%) of the volunteers. This difference is statistically not significant (t = 2.087, P <0.075). The isolates were susceptible to gentamycin (50.0%) erythromycin (40.0%) and streptomycin (30.0%). The S. aureusisolated was resistant to cloxacillin, penicillin, ampicillin and tetracycline. In our studied areaS. aureus could be effectively treated by gentamycin, erythromycin and streptomycin. The implication of resistance of the isolates to penicillin, ampicillin and the common antibiotics such as ampicillin are also highlighted.

Key words: Prevalence, antibiotic susceptibility, Staphylococcus aureus, Clinical isolates, skin isolates, Nigeria.