[Drug resistance in nosocomial strains of staphylococci to methicillin].

The aim of the present study was the analysis of drug susceptibility of MRSA and MRCNS strains isolated from patients hospitalized in 14 wards of the State Clinical Hospital No 1 in Warsaw. The strains were identified (ID 32 STAPH), and their susceptibility to antimicrobial agents (ATB STAPH) was determined in ATB system (bioMérieux, France). Four methods were applied to confirm the resistance to methicillin: ATB-plus system, disc-diffusion method (Oxa 1 microgram, Oxoid, U.K.), Crystal MRSA ID (Becton Dickinson-BBL, USA) and agar screen test in TSA medium (Difco, USA) with methicillin (25 mg/l, Sigma, USA). 108 Staphylococcus spp. strains were found in 300 clinical specimens. 56 strains were methicillin-resistant (52%). Among methicillin-resistant strains 13 MRSA, 28 MRSE and 15 of other species were found. All MRSA strains were susceptible to vancomycin, teicoplanin and fusidic acid. MRCNS were susceptible first of all to vancomycin (43/43), minocycline (42/43) and pristinamycin (42/43). On the basis of the obtained results it can be stated that methicillin-resistant staphylococci occur in hospital wards. The greatest number of methicillin-resistant strains was cultured from patients hospitalized in surgery wards (32), methicillin-resistant strains much more frequently occur among coagulase-negative staphylococci, especially in Staphylococcus epidermis. Glycopeptide antibiotics are most active against isolated MRSA strains. The most active therapeutic agent against MRCNS is vancomycin.