Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern and Beta-lactamase Production in Isolates of Staphylococcus aureus from Recurrent Furunculosis in Southwestern, Nigeria

Furuculosis is a skin infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus. It is characterised by honey crusted ‘cropped’ latent boil with potential to recur in a susceptible host. Isolates of S.aureus obtained from both hospitalised and non-hospitalised patients with furuncles in Southwest, Nigeria were characterised in relation to their resistance to commonly used antimicrobial agents. Exudates of ‘cropped-boils’ from one hundred and forty (140) individuals consisting of forty (40) hospitalised and one hundred (100) non-hospitalised cases of recurrent furunculosis were screened for S. aureus. One hundred and two (102) were positive for the organism by conventional biochemical tests. Detection of β-Iactamase was determined by cell-suspension iodometric method. Of the 102 isolates, 30(29.4%) strains possessed β-lactamase and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of selected antibiotics was in the range of 3.95– 250μg/ml. The multiple drug resistance as evident in high MICs of the antibiotics tested could probably be due to abuse/misuse of antibiotics resulting in recurrence of furuncles in the patients.