Nasal colonisation of drug resistant bacteria in Ghanaian children less than five years

Bacteria isolated from nasal specimens collected from 100 subjects less than 5 years, were identified and their susceptibility characterised by standard microbiological methods. The organisms isolated from the subjects and prevalence rates were as follows: Staphylococcus aureus (49%), coagulase negative staphylococcus (27.4%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (4%), viridian streptococci (4%), Streptococcus pyogenes (2%) Klebsiella spp. (7%) Escherichia coli (2%), Enterobacter spp. (2%), Pseudomonas spp. (2%), and Morganella morgani (1%). Sex and age were not significantly associated with bacteria carriage at p<0.5. The prevalence of multiple drug resistance in Staphylococcus aureus was 49%, while among the Streptococci and the gram-negative rod organisms, it was 90% and 58.3% respectively. The prevalence of resistance of Staphylococcus aureus (the predominant organism isolated) to drugs tested, showed over 50% resistance for five of the nine drugs, including, cefuroxime, ampicillin, cotrimoxazole, tetracycline, penicillin, while resistance of 15-25% were observed for gentamicin, cloxacillin, erythromycin, and cefotaxime. The nasal area of the children appears to be an important source of multiply resistant bacteria.