Abstract

Today, Staphylococcus epidermidis is a major nosocomial pathogen posing significant medical and economic burdens. The study was aimed to isolate, identify and determine the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of S. epidermidis isolated from infected skin in Kano, Northern Nigeria. A total of 75 wound swab were collected from patients (53 males and 22 females) attending three different hospitals within Kano State metropolis (Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, Muhammad Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital and Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital) using sterile swab sticks. The wound swab samples were inoculated onto the surface of freshly prepared Nutrient agar for isolation. The bacteria isolated were identified by conventional microbiological methods namely; Gram staining and biochemical tests (such as catalase, coagulase, DNase and haemolysis test). The isolates were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility testing using the agar disc diffusion method. The result showed that S. epidermidis was highly susceptible to Gentamicin 13 (61.90%), Levofloxacin 12 (57.14%) and Nitrofurantoin 11 (52.38%). On the other hand, the isolate was highly resistant to Ceftazidime 20 (95.24%), Cloxacillin 19 (90.48%) then Cefoxitin, Erythromycin and Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid with 15 (71.43%) each. It is concluded that S. epidermidis develop resistance to some classes of antibiotics.