Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage in young healthy adults in Brunei Darussalam

Introduction: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus ) is a grampositive coccus bacterium which is nor mally a skin flora but may cause opportunistic infections such as skin and soft tissue infections, bacte raemia and necrotising fasciitis. Nasal carriage of S. aureus is a wellknown factor for subsequent infec tions and transmission. Emergence of antibioticresstrains including MethicillinResistant S. aure� us (MRSA) has become a public health problem. Therefore, an understanding of S. aureus nasal car riage status and its transmission is important for control of S. aureus, formulation of treatment strate gies and related health planning. Materials and Methods: Nasal specimens were collected from 115 undergraduate students from Universiti Brunei Darussalam who volunteered to take part in the study. S. aureus identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing including those of MRSA were carried out by standard laboratory protocols. A questionnaire was also administered to volunteers to help identify as sociated factors to S. aureus nasal carriage and possible transmission. Results: Twentytwo percent (25/115) of participants tested positive for S. aureus nasal carriage and none for MRSA. S. aureus iso lates have a varying low resistance to amoxicillin/clavulanic, tetracycline and chloramphenicol. No sig nificant differences exist between carrier and non carrier states in relation to factors that may be asso ciated with S. aureus nasal carriage. Conclusion: Given that this is a preliminary study, a study with a larger sample size is required to further understand S. aureus nasal carriage in Brunei Darussalam.