Clonal Lineage Diversity, Antibiotic Resistance, and Virulence Determinants Among Methicillin-Resistant and Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Nurses at a Teaching Hospital in Ilam, Iran: Successful Nares Decolonization by Mupirocin

Background: Staphylococcus aureus is known to be responsible for nosocomial infections, and the typing method was useful in managing the reservoir of bacteria. The main aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of S. aureus in the nares and hands of nurses working in Imam Khomeini hospital, Ilam, Iran, as well as to determine the clonal relatedness, antimicrobial susceptibility profiles, different virulence, and resistance determinants among these isolates. The evolution of mupirocin activity in the eradication of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) colonization in the nares of the healthcare workers in Ilam, Iran, was also determined in this study. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 80 nurses, auxiliary nurses, and service workers from Imam Khomeini Hospital were enrolled. MRSA, antibiotic susceptibility, and virulence determinants were evaluated. Then, the isolates were subjected to pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and Staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec typing. Results: Our results demonstrated that 23% of isolates were MRSA. PFGE results demonstrated that pulsotypes A (3 out of 30; 10%) and J (3 out of 30; 10%), pulsotypes E (2 out of 30; 6.7%), M (2 out of 30; 6.7%), P (2 out of 30; 6.7%), and V (2 out of 30; 6.7%) were the most predominant pulsotypes, respectively. Conclusion: We cannot give conclusive suggestions about the correlation between nasal carriage and infections, but we suggest the monitoring of all healthcare workers annually, decontamination of their noses by using mupirocin and other antistaphylococcal agents, and also the washing of their hands at least every 2 h.