Pharmaceutica Analytica Acta

Abstract

Identification and Characterization of Staphylococcus Isolates in Fes- Meknes Region in Morocco

EL Malki Fatima, EL Lekhlifi Zineb and Barrijal Said

Staphylococci are among the most commonly recovered bacteria in the clinical microbiology laboratories. According to the coagulase test, staphylococci are categorized as S. aureus and coagulase negative staphylococci (CoNS). Although S. aureus is more virulent, CoNS may also cause infections, some of which may be lifethreatening. Raising staphylococci multi-drogue resistance has complicated therapeutic protocols especially for S. aureus resistant to meticillin (SARM). In our study we characterized by phenotypic and molecular data, a group of staphylococci collected from hospital laboratories. Comparison between standard laboratories procedures in routine identification and molecular methods showed a good correlation of both. Multiplex-PCR revealed that all species specific 16S RNA positive were coagulase positive and identified to be S. aureus. Besides, all mecA positive isolates were cefoxitin resistant. The prevalence of SARM was found 11.76% while meticillin resistant coagulase negative staphylococcus (MRCoNS) was 84.61%. Although the analyzed staphylococcal isolates sample is small, our study revealed a relatively low prevalence of SARM in this region of Morocco compared to others region of the world. The very high prevalence of MRCoNS isolates is alarming and demonstrating that CoNS are becoming the main source for dissemination of mecA gene.