NASAL CARRIAGE OF MULTI-DRUG RESISTANT PANTON VALENTINE LEUKOCIDIN POSITIVE STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS IN HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS OF TUDUN-WADA, GOMBE STATE, NIGERIA

BACKGROUND: Panton-Valentine Leucocidin (PVL)-producing Staphylococcus aureus strains have been implicated in serious community-associated invasive infections and their increasing multidrug resistance is a major global health concern. Thus, we investigated the prevalence of the PVL gene and the antimicrobial resistance profile of nasal S. aureus isolates from healthy adults in Tundu-Wada, Gombe State of Nigeria. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A total of 262 nasal samples from healthy adults were obtained and cultured. The isolates were identified as S. aureus by standard morphological and biochemical methods alongside with the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) amplification of their 16S rRNA gene. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by the disc diffusion technique and the presence of mecA and PVL genes was determined by PCR analysis. RESULTS: The overall nasal colonization of S. aureus was 17.6%. The prevalence of haemolysin and biofilm production among the isolates was 25(54.3%) and 42(91.3%), respectively. Only 2(4.3%) and 5(10.9%) possessed mecA and PVL genes respectively but none of the isolates harboured these two genes. All the isolates were resistant to amoxicillin but were highly susceptible (93.7%) to gentamicin. The prevalence of multi-drug resistance (MDR) among the isolates was M 45.7% and all PVL-producing isolates were MDR while one of the isolates with mecA gene exhibited extensive-drug resistance (XDR). CONCLUSION: This is the first report of nasal colonization of MDR PVL-producing S. aureus in healthy adults in Gombe, Northeastern Nigeria. This study highlights the importance of routine surveillance of healthy populations to provide useful strategies for controlling the spread of virulent multidrug-resistant organisms within the community.