Objectives: This study aimed to investigate Staphylococcal aureus [S. aureus] carriage among health care workers [HCWs] in Burn and Surgical Critical Care Units in Menoufia University Hospital, Egypt, following an outbreak of S. aureus wound infection in patients Methods: The study involved 60 HCWs. They were 9 Doctors [15.0%] and 51 nurses and workers [85.0%] . Each participant completed a questionnaire that covered demographic data, smoking habits, riskfactors of S. aureus colonization and general infection control procedures. To detect S. aureuscolonization, both nasal and hand swabs were collected from HCWs. Testing for sensitivity to methicillin was performed by cefoxitin disc diffusion method [30 micro g]
Results: S. aureus was isolated from 53.3% of HCWs and 68.8% of them were colonized with MRSAstrains. The overall MRSA carriage rate was 36.7%. MRSA was confined only in Surgical intensive careunits [ICUs] . MRSA isolates were sensitive to amikacin, chloramphenicol, vancomycin and ceftriaxone. There was no correlation between infection control training, antibiotic intake in the preceding month, duration of work, diabetes mellitus and smoking of HCWs and carriage rate of MRSA [P >0.5]