Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern of Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from Different Clinical Samples from Patients at Specialist Hospital Sokoto

Background: Staphylococcus aureus is a major pathogen associated with both hospital- and community-acquired infections. The emergence of multidrug resistance in this organism has left physicians with limited therapeutic options to treat these infections, thus making antimicrobial surveillance very essential. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of S. aureus in the Specialist Hospital Sokoto (SHS) in order to provide updated data that were missing from previous limited research works in this community. Methods: This study determined the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from clinical samples at SHS. A total of 86 clinical samples were collected and processed via standard microbiological techniques, and antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines via the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. The data obtained were analyzed via the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Windows version 20. Results: The overall prevalence of S. aureus was 22.1%. The highest prevalence was recorded in wounds (6.98%), followed by urine (4.70%). Children aged 0-10 years had the highest infection rate (9.3%). The S. aureus isolates presented the highest sensitivity to ceftriaxone and streptomycin (63.2% each), ciprofloxacin and rifampicin (57.9% each). Resistance was most pronounced against norfloxacin (89.5%), cefuroxime (73.7%) and amoxicillin (68.4%). Conclusion: This study demonstrated the presence of potential S. aureus isolates in this research setting that were highly resistant to several frequently used first-line antibiotics and some relatively effective options for empirical therapy. Therefore, this study highlights the need for continuous antimicrobial resistance surveillance to help guide effective therapeutic strategies, manage patients with ongoing infections and prevent further spread among people.