Nasal conveyance of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains among dental professionals with varying levels of clinical exposure: A comparative study

Nandita Subba Rao; Prajna Pramod Nayak; K V V Prasad

doi:10.1016/j.jobcr.2019.12.002

Nasal conveyance of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains among dental professionals with varying levels of clinical exposure: A comparative study

J Oral Biol Craniofac Res. 2020 Jul-Sep;10(3):310-313. doi: 10.1016/j.jobcr.2019.12.002. Epub 2019 Dec 20.

Authors

Nandita Subba Rao¹, Prajna Pramod Nayak², K V V Prasad³

Affiliations

¹ Loma Linda University, California, USA.
² Department of Public Health Dentistry, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India.
³ Department of Public Health Dentistry, SDM College of Dental Sciences, Dharwad, India.

Abstract

Objective: Any control program for MRSA requires identifying the whole hospital reservoir. The likelihood of conveyance of MRSA may be higher in dental settings. Hence, the aim was to compare the nasal conveyance MRSA among dental professionals with varying levels of clinical exposure in a tertiary dental hospital in South India.

Methods: A total of 81 volunteers were stratified based on the number of years of clinical exposure. The nasal swabs were subjected to catalase and coagulase tests as well as antibiotic susceptibility test. Chi- Square test was done to compare the different types of organisms isolated from dental professionals with varied levels of clinical exposure.

Results: Out of the total 81 isolates, 62.96% of the isolates were MSCONS (Methicillin sensitive coagulase negative staphylococcus), 20.98% of them were MRCONS (Methicillin resistant coagulase negative staphylococcus), 9.87% were MSSA (Methicillin sensitive staphylococcus aureus) and 3.7% were MRSA positive and 2.46% were other gram negative organisms.

Conclusions: MRCONS, MSSA and MRSA were shown to increase with an increase in the clinical exposure years.

Keywords: Dental professionals; Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; Nasal isolation.