STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS ISOLATED FROM INFECTED WOUND AND THEIR ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY PATTERN

A wound is a swift injury onset involving lacerated or punctured skin (an open wound), or a contusion (a closed wound) from blunt force trauma or compression. In pathology, a wound is an acute injury that damages the epidermis of the skin. Staphylococcus aureus, a major nosocomial and community-associated pathogen, significantly contributes as a major cause of persistent infections in chronic wounds. The study aims at isolating and identifying S. aureus from infected wound and to determine the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of the isolates. A total of 13 wound swab samples were gotten from different patients between age 16-40 years in Immanuel General Hospital Eket L.G.A. The specimens were inoculated on Mannitol salt agar and incubated at 37°C for 24h. The biochemical characterization of the isolates was carried out using conventional method. Antibiotics susceptibility testing was done by Kirby-Bauer disc agar diffusion method. A total of 15 isolates were derived where Staphylococcus epidermidis and Bacillus spp. had the highest occurrence rates of 6 (40%) respectively, followed by Staphylococcus aureus 2(13%), and Micrococcus spp. 1(7%). Maximum susceptibility was revealed for vancomycin (glycopeptides) and maximum resistance was revealed for oxacillin (penicillin). All isolates were resistant to 1 or more antibiotics with a MAR index within the range of 0.1-0.9. This calls for urgent public health measures to implement antimicrobial resistance stewardship to mitigate against the potential adverse effects of resistant bacteria.