• E O Akinkunmi and A Lamikanra.
• Department of Pharmaceutics, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. eoakinmi@oauife.edu.ng
• Afr Health Sci. 2012 Sep 1; 12 (3): 381387381-7.

BackgroundThe gastrointestinal tract has been recognized as a major ecological site for Staphylococcus aureus where it can reach neighboring sites and cause mild or serious infections.ObjectivesTo determine the prevalence of intestinal carriage of S. aureus in children aged 3 years and below in Ile-Ife, Nigeria and the antibiotic resistance characteristics of the organisms obtained.MethodsThe organisms isolated in the course of the study were identified by phenotypic and genotypic methods and screened against 13 antibiotics by conventional methods. A total of 293 subjects were sampled of which 130 were diagnosed with diarrheal at the time of the study while the rest were apparently healthy.Results14.0% of the faecal samples yielded S. aureus with the carriage rate among the subjects being found to be highest at about 1 month approximately in subjected ages. Sixty-five percent of the isolates were found to be resistant to more than three different antibiotics with more than 50% being resistant to penicillin, erythromycin and trimethoprim.ConclusionsThe results of the study indicated that a reservoir of multiply antibiotic resistant S. aureus exists in the gastrointestinal tracts of children living within the study environment.

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