Vancomycin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Causing Ocular Infections in El-Gharbia Governorate, Egypt

Abstract

CULAR infections caused by bacteria represent an important public health problem worldwide. This study was conducted to determine the antimicrobial resistance pattern and the emergence of cefoxitin-and vancomycin-resistant S. aureus causing ocular infections at El-Gharbia governorate hospitals. For this study, 300 S. aureus isolates were collected from patients suffering from eye infections from four hospitals in El-Gharbia governorate. Furthermore, isolates were molecularly characterized using 23s rRNA PCR. Antibiotic sensitivity tests were performed using the disk diffusion test. A total of 90 (31%) S. aureus isolates were identified, and distributed within the four hospitals as 25%, 33%, 48%, and 16% from Quotour hospital, El–Menshawy, El-Ramad and Quotour clinic, respectively. Moreover, S. aureus was isolated from male and female patients at the rate of 30.8 % and 31 %, respectively. S. aureus ocular isolates were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, cefuroxime, amikacin, azithromycin, norfloxacin, sulbactam/ampicillin and cefotaxime. In contrast, 89%, 90%, 100% and 85% of these isolates showed resistance to ampicillin, cefoxitin, doxycycline hydrochloride, and vancomycin. Whereas, the rest of S. aureus strains were cefoxitin-and vancomycin-intermediate resistant. This study alerts the emergence of cefoxitin-and vancomycin-resistant S. aureus causing ocular infections among hospitals in the El-Gharbia governorate. Additionally, ciprofloxacin is the most effective antibiotic against S. aureus causing ocular infections reported in this study.