Detection of Methicillin Resistance and β-Lactamase Production in Staphylococcus aureus Isolates: A Cross Sectional Study from a Tertiary Care Hospital

Nosocomial infections are proving to be a menace for the whole health care system, with methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) being a very notorious causative agent. Along with the role of mecA gene producing penicillin-binding protein (PBP2a), production of beta-lactamase enzyme by Staphylococcus aureus makes the organism resistant to all beta-lactam agents. This study aims at phenotypic detection of methicillin resistance and beta-Lactamase production in all S. aureus isolates by Cefoxitin disk diffusion test and Penicillin zone-edge test, respectively. In this prospective cross-sectional study, samples were obtained from patients admitted to different departments and were processed according to the standard laboratory protocols. As per the CLSI guidelines, phenotypic detection of resistance to methicillin was done by Cefoxitin Disk Diffusion test, whereas production of beta-lactamase enzyme was phenotypically detected by penicillin zone edge test. Among 179 isolates of S. aureus, 116 (64.8%) were MRSA, whereas the remaining 63 (35.2%) isolates were methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSS A). Staphylococcus aureus infection among ICU and non-ICU patients were found to be 24(13%) and 155(86.6%) respectively. Among 24 ICU patients, 19 had MRSA infection, whereas among 155 non-ICU patients, 97 had MRSA infection. Out of 63 MSS A isolates, only 2 (3.17%) were found to be sensitive to Penicillin by Zone-edge test, 04 isolates showed presence of beta-lactamase production, while remaining 57 isolates were resistant to Penicillin. At the same time, several class of antibiotics were found to be ineffective against these MRSA isolates. Cases of methicillin-resistant and beta-lactamase producing Staphylococcus aureus infections are on the rise in our hospital settings.