European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: For inhibition of treatment failure, clinical microbiology laboratories should be able to detect methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) more precisely and rapidly. The aim of this study was to detect MRSA from various clinical samples by using two different phenotypic methods (cefoxitin disc diffusion method and CHROMagar method) in order to determine which method produced the best phenotypic results as well as to observe the organisms' resistance pattern. Method: S.aureus was identified in this study with the use of traditional methods for various clinical samples. Cefoxitin disc diffusion, MIC (by Vitek 2), and MRSA CHROMagar were used to screen all isolated strains of S. aureus for methicillin resistance. S.aureus ATCC -25923 strains was used for the purpose of quality control. Kirby Bauer's disc diffusion method was used to test antibiotic sensitivity in accordance with CLSI guidelines.  Result: Present study showed that 61 (38.6%) MRSA were detected out of total 158 S. aureus isolates by cefoxitin disc diffusion method and CHROMagar method. Turnaround time(TAT) for quick  identification of MRSA  by cefoxitin disc diffusion method was found to be  48 hours  for 36.1% MRSA, whereas  MRSA detection was quite fast  i.e.,  for 95.1% of MRSA in 24 CHROMagar method. All MRSA isolated from various clinical specimens were susceptible to vancomycin and linezolid. Conclusion: The most accurate method for detection of MRSA is cefoxitin disc diffusion, but it has disadvantage of time consuming process. A one-step CHROMagar method may also be considered as a better option for routine and rapid screening of MRSA from clinical samples.