Nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus: A study of the nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus in a population of students between ages three and fifteen years

Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of disease, particularly in colonized persons.259 nasal swabs were collected from 127 females and 132 males between age 3-15 years in primary and secondary schools in Ile- Ife, Osun state. The nasal carriage rate by the subjects was influenced primarily by age and found to be 33.3% in ages 3-5 years, 28.3% in ages 6-8 years, 24.1% in ages 9-11 years and 18.1% in ages 12-15 years showing a decreasing nasal carriage rate with increasing age of which there was a significant difference within the age groups of the subjects without significant difference of the nasal carriage of S.aureus in females and males at 5% level of significance and the overall nasal carriage of S.aureus is 22.0%. Resistance and susceptibility patterns to commonly used antibiotics in the community environment were determined, of which 94.6% of the S. aureus isolates were resistant to Ampicillin, 61.8% to Trimethoprim,60.0% to Tetracycline,9.1% to Chloramphenicol,3.6% to each of Sulphonamide and Streptomycin,and 1.8% to each of Ciprofloxacin and Cefoxitin. The clinical implication of this result is that students of lower age group are more susceptible to S.aureus infections.