Abstract:
Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of delayed wound healing worldwide,
22 particularly among diabetic patients, due to the bacterium's resistance to antibiotics. This study
23 aimed to investigate the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of S. aureus isolated
24 from diabetic wound infections at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH). A purposive
25 sampling method was used to select 156 diabetic patients, aged 13 years and above, attending the
26 diabetic clinic at MTRH. Wound swabs were collected aseptically, inoculated onto blood agar,
27 and sub-cultured on Mannitol Salt Agar. The isolates were identified through biochemical tests,
28 and antimicrobial susceptibility was determined using the agar disk diffusion method. Of the 156
29 samples, 31 (19.87%) were positive for S. aureus, while 125 (80.13%) were negative. Among
30 the positive isolates, 26 (10.48%) exhibited intermediate sensitivity, and 72 (29.03%) showed
31 resistance to at least one antibiotic. More than half of the isolates were susceptible to the tested
32 antibiotics. The highest susceptibility was observed for Cefoxitin (96.77%) and Clindamycin
33 (80.65%), while Ampicillin demonstrated the lowest susceptibility (25.81%). The study
34 established, 19.87% prevalence of S. aureus in wounds of diabetic patients at the outpatient
35 diabetic clinic of MTRH, with most isolates showing susceptibility to Cefoxitin, Erythromycin,
36 and Clindamycin. Regular surveillance, early screening, and re-evaluation of treatment options,
37 particularly Ampicillin, are essential for effective management diabetic wound infections and to
38 combat antibiotic resistance.
