Nasal carriage of methicillin resistant (staphylococcus aureus) among health care workers at Mulago national referral hospital

Abstract

Recent reports highlight an increasing prevalence of Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among patients attending Mulago National Referral Hospital (MNRH) (Kateete et al, 2011). In a health care setting, Health Care Workers (HCWs) harbor these strains asymptomatically and serve as main sources of hospital outbreaks (Giuffre et al., 2013). Infection control strategies that limit HCW- patient transmission of MRSA require regular reporting of nasal carriage rates of MRSA among HCWs. Against this background, this study aimed at determining nasal carriage of HCWs at MNRH.