Isolation, Characterisation and Antibiogram Profile of Staphylococcus aureus in the Urine of Tertiary Care Hospital Patients of District Quetta, Pakistan

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common infectious diseases in community practice and a significant public health problem regarding morbidity and financial cost worldwide.

Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) among UTI patients of District Quetta Pakistan and to observe the antibiogram profile of the bacterial isolates.

Materials and Methods: One hundred urine samples were collected from both male and female UTI patients. These mid-stream urine samples were taken early in the morning in sterile, wide mouth containers from the pathological section of a tertiary care hospital (Bolan Medical College Hospital BMCH), District Quetta. Samples were further processed at the Microbiology laboratory of Centre for Advance Studies in Vaccinology and Biotechnology (CASVAB), University of Balochistan from August to December 2011.

Results: Only five samples were found positive for S. aureus on methyl red, Voges-Proskauer, catalase and coagulase, while negative on indole, citrate and motility. Positive samples showed cream and yellow coloured colonies on Staphylococcus medium 110 and mannitol salt agar, respectively. Infection was more common in female (60%) as compared to males (40%); while the overall infection rate was highest in the age group of 26-45 years (80%). During antibiotic sensitivity test, gentamycin showed 100% susceptibility against S. aureus.

Conclusion: It was concluded that only 5% of patients of UTI were caused by S. aureus that can be eliminated by treating the patients with antibiotic gentamycin. In the local scenario, routine urine culture tests and surveillance program is encouraged to be implemented.