Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus in a teaching hospital of Karachi--a laboratory study

A search was made for Methicillin Resistant Strains of Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) among staph aureus cultures isolated at a teaching hospital in Karachi. Of 100 staphylococcus aureus isolated in 1987-88, 5 were MRSA, four from admitted patients and one from outpatient. These MRSA were resistant to Gentamicin as well as to other antibiotics. The presence of MRSA in the in-patients is a serious problem as it can act as reservoir to cause outbreak of colonisation and infection. No MRSA was isolated from 50 samples studied from Quetta.