Abstract:
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among health care workers (HCWs) increases the risk of spreading the
organism in hospital settings. A cross-sectional study was conducted between June and October 2016 among HCWs in tertiary and
regional hospitals in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to determine the MRSA nasal carriage rate. Nasal swabs were collected from HCWs
and cultured on mannitol salt agar. S. aureus was identified based on colonial morphology, Gram staining, catalase, coagulase, and
DNase test results. MRSA was detected using the cefoxitin disk. Among 379 HCWs enrolled, 157/379 (41.4%) were colonized with
S. aureus, of whom 59 (37.6%) were MRSA carriers giving an overall prevalence of 59/379 (15.6%). MRSA carriage was high among
HCWs in Temeke (56.9%) and Amana (37.5%) regional hospitals. A high proportion of MRSA carriage was detected among
nurses (35, 45.5%). MRSA isolates showed high resistance toward kanamycin (83.7%), gentamicin (83.1%), ciprofloxacin (71.2%),
and trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole (46.8%) compared to methicillin-sensitive S. aureus isolates (p ≤ 0.001). In conclusion, we
found a high nasal carriage of MRSA and resistance to commonly prescribed antimicrobial agents among HCWs. Implementation
of infection control measures including contact precautions, urgent reporting of MRSA laboratory results, and routine MRSA
screening of HCWs is highly needed to reduce MRSA spreading.
