Susceptibility pattern of Staphylococcus aureus isolated in Malaysian hospitals

Isolates of 390 Staphylococcus aureus were tested against 13 different anti biotics by a disc diffusion method as recommended by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS). Strains were isolated from bloo d (5.7%), cerebrospinal fluid (0.5%), respiratory tract (11.8%), pus and wo und (73.3%), urine (1.8%), genital specimens (1.0%) and other specimens (4. 3%). Only 4.6% of the isolates were fully susceptible to all the drugs test ed. Resistance to penicillin was 94.1%, methicillin, 39.7%, chloramphenicol , 8.5%, ciprofloxacin, 29.2%, clindamycin, 2.1%, erythromycin, 45.9% gentam icin, 40.5%; rifampicin, 3.3% tetracycline, 47.2%, co-trimoxazole, 38.5%, m upirocin, 2.8%, fusidic acid, 3.6%. None of the isolates was resistant to v ancomycin. The susceptibility of methicillin-resistant strains to erythromy cin, gentamicin, tetracycline and ciprofloxacin was low, while clindamycin, fusidic acid, mupirocin, and rifampicin remained active. (C) 2000 Publishe d by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.