Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus among HIV Infected Pediatric Patients in Northwest Ethiopia: Carriage Rates and Antibiotic Co-Resistance Profiles: e0137254

Background MRSA infections are becoming more prevalent throughout the HIV community. MRSA infections are a challenge to both physicians and patients due to limited choice of therapeutic options and increased cost of care. Objectives This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of colonization and co-resistance patterns of MRSA species among HIV positive pediatric patients in the Amhara National Regional State, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods Culture swabs were collected from the anterior nares, the skin and the perineum of 400 participants. In vitro antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done on Muller Hinton Agar by the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method, using 30 Mg cefoxitin (OXOID, ENGLAND) according to the recommendations of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. Methicillin sensitivity/resistance was tested using cefoxitin. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and logistic regression model using Epi Info 7. Results S. aureus was detected in 206 participants (51.5%). The prevalence of MRSA colonization in this study was 16.8%. Colonization by S. aureus was associated with male gender (OR = 0.5869; 95% CI: 0.3812-0.9036; p-value = 0.0155), history of antibiotic use over the previous 3 months (OR = 2.3126; 95% CI: 1.0707-4.9948; p-value = 0.0329) and having CD4 T-cell counts of more than 350 x 106 cells / L (OR = 0.5739; 95% CI = 0.3343-0.9851; p-value = 0.0440). Colonization by MRSA was not associated with any one of the variables. Concomitant resistance of the MRSA to clindamycin, chloramphenicol, co-trimoxazole, ceftriaxone, erythromycin and tetracycline was 7.6%, 6%, 5.25%, 20.9%, 23.9% and 72.1%, respectively. Conclusion High rates of colonization by pathogenic MRSA strains is observed among HIV positive pediatric patients in the Amhara National Regional state.