Characterization and antibiotic resistance of staphylococci strains isolated from brack hospital in the Southern Region of Libya

Background: Staphylococcus species are one of the most important healthcare-associated pathogens able to acquire and spread multidrug-resistant determinants. Objectives: The present study investigated and analyzed 110 potential Staphylococcus species isolated from various clinical and nonclinical samples at Brack hospital. Materials and Methods: A nonselective laboratory approach was applied, using cultural characteristics, Gram stain, and catalase reactivity followed by confirmation at the species levels and determination the susceptibility against antimicrobial agents using the Phoenix automated microbiological system. Results: In total, 57.5% were confirmed as species and subspecies of Staphylococcus represented by ten different species: nine subspecies of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) (76.2%) and one coagulase-positive staphylococci (CoNS) subspecies (23.8%). Of these strains, 16.6% were identified as methicillin-resistant staphylococci (MRS) mostly of the CoNS group expressing significant resistance to important antimicrobial classes. Conclusion: This study reports a high prevalence of various staphylococci species, particularly of CoNS group expressing multidrug resistance patterns of public health concern, from a healthcare setting in the south region of Libya. The identification of higher rate of MRCoNS underlines the importance of monitoring all multidrug-resistant staphylococci species requiring further epidemiological investigations.