Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage among healthcare workers in Kisangani, the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a global health concern, but there are few data from Central Africa. The objective of our study was to characterise S. aureus colonisation isolates from healthcare-exposed professionals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Healthcare workers and medical students (n = 380) in Kisangani, DRC were screened for S. aureus nasal carriage in a single-centre cross-sectional study in the University Hospital of Kisangani. The isolates were identified and characterised using phenotypic and genotypic methods. The nasal carriage rate of S. aureus was 16.6 % and 10 out of 63 isolates (15.9 %) were MRSA. We found 28 different spa types. Most MRSA isolates belonged to ST8-spa t1476-SCCmec V. The majority of MRSA were multidrug-resistant to non-beta-lactam antibiotics. Overall, 28.5 % of S. aureus carried Panton-Valentine leucocidin (PVL)-encoding genes (all methicillin-sensitive) and 17.5 % carried toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1)-encoding genes. The finding of MRSA carriage among healthcare workers in a setting with limited access to diagnostic microbiology and appropriate therapy calls for improved education on infection control practices and supports the introduction of surveillance programmes.