en Microbiology Microbiology Original Article Original Article <p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong><em>Background: </em></strong></span><em>Staphylococcus aureus</em> (s. aureus) nasal carriers, particularly the healthcare staff can be considered as a potential source for the spread of resistant strains. The aim of this study was to determine the molecular characterization of S. aureus strains isolated among the staff nasal carriers in one of the teaching hospitals in Babol.<br> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong><em>Methods: </em></strong></span>A total of 120 nasal swabs were taken from the staff of Ayatollah Rouhani Hospital Babol during 2016.&nbsp; The antibiotic resistance pattern was performed by disc diffusion method for 13 antibiotics, including cefoxitin, cephalothin, teicoplanin, vancomycin, daptomycin, oxacillin, amoxicillin, amikacin, linezolid, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, erythromycin, rifampin, according to the CLSI 2015. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect mecA and pvl genes. Finally, the different SCCmec types were determined by multiplex- PCR method.<br> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong><em>Results: </em></strong></span>Among the 120 collected specimens, 40(33.3%) S. aureus isolates were approved. 28(70%) of strains were identified as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and the frequency of pvl gene was confirmed 2(5%). Based on the multiplex PCR assay, four different SCCmec types were detected as 35.7% type I, 14.2% type III, 7.1% type II and 3.5% type IV. By a disc diffusion method, no resistance pattern was observed to vancomycin, while 100% of strains were resistant to amoxicillin.<br> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong><em>Conclusion: </em></strong></span>Consequently our results illustrated that isolated S. aureus strains among the staff nasal carriers via mentioned molecular characterization may lead to increase the nosocomial persistent infections in hospitalized patients and also health care workers.</span></span></p> Staphylococcus aureus, nasal carriers, antibiotic resistance, SCCmec, MRSA 311 316 http://caspjim.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-740-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Parisa Sabbagh Parisa.sabbagh@gmail.com 100319475328460010291 100319475328460010291 No Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran. Amirmorteza Ebrahimzadeh-Namvar Amirmorteza.namvar@gmail.com 100319475328460010292 100319475328460010292 No Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Elaheh Ferdosi-Shahandashti elaheh.ferdosi@yahoo.com 100319475328460010293 100319475328460010293 No Department of Biotechnology, School of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Mostafa Javanian M.javanian@gmail.com 100319475328460010294 100319475328460010294 No Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran. Soraya Khafri Soraya.khafri@yahoo.com 100319475328460010295 100319475328460010295 No Department of Statistics and Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Mehdi Rajabnia Ramazan69@yahoo.com 100319475328460010296 100319475328460010296 Yes Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.