Nasal Carriage of Staphylococcus aureus in Preclinical and Clinical Dental Students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences and Identification of Methicillin-Resistant Isolates in 2019

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is the cause of severe and treatment-resistant, hospital- and community-acquired infections across the world. This study aimed to identify and compare the nasal carriage of S. aureus and methicillin-resistant in clinical and preclinical dental students in 2019. Materials and Methods: This study is a cross-sectional study (descriptive-analytic) which was conducted during a period of time from 2019 to 2020 at the School of Dentistry, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Two groups of dental students (i.e., clinical and preclinical programs) were selected. Nasal samples were taken and S. aureus was detected using the standard microbiology tests. Disc diffusion on Mueller-Hinton Agar was used to identify MRSA. P values of ≤0.05 were regarded as statistically significant. Results: A total of 92 dental students were examined and S. aureus was identified in 44 (47.8%) students, but no cases of MRSA were detected among the participants. Conclusions: The difference between clinical and preclinical groups was not significant.