Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance Pattern of Community Acquired Staphylococcus aureus in Patients Received at the Traumatology Unit of a Secondary Referral Health Setting in the Western Cameroon

Background: Staphylococcus aureus is responsible of a wide range of both community and Hospital acquired infections. Several genomic variability underlie the diversity of S. aureus strains responsible for the emergence of antibiotic resistance.

Objective: To assess the prevalence and antibiotic resistance pattern of community acquired S. aureus isolated from pus samples in patients received at the traumatology unit of Our Lady of Health Centre of Batseng'la in Dschang, Western Cameroon.

Study Design: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study, carried out over a period of five months (from January to May 2021) involving a total of 52 participants received at the traumatology unit of Our Lady of Health Centre of Batseng'la in Dschang, Western Cameroon.

Methods: Pus samples collected from participants were seeded on Chapman Agar at 37°C for 24 hours. The colonies identification was based on catalase, coagulase and DNAse tests. The antibiotic susceptibility test was performed using the Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method on Mueller-Hinton agar. Data were analysed using SPSS version 25 Software.

Results: S. aureus was isolated in 22 of the 54 pus samples analysed, giving a positivity rate of 42.3%. The majority of strains (63.6%) were isolated from subjects less than 21 years old. From the strains isolated, 40.9% were MRSA and 86.4% presented multi-resistance patterns to the antibiotics tested. All strains of MRSA were found to be cross-resistant with one or more other antibiotics.

Conclusion: The multi-resistance of community acquired S. aureus to antibiotics is a reality. Adequate care should be taken while handling suppurating wounds and abscesses. Especially in younger ager individuals, as this may help in timely setting up proper care and treatment protocols necessary to overcome drug resistance of such extremely flexible pathogens.