Staphylococcus aureus, which has its ecological niche in the anterior nares, has been shown to
cause a variety of infectious diseases mainly for patients in hemodialysis units. We performed this
study to evaluate the prevalence of nasal S. aureus carriage among hemodialysis outpatients, to
determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of isolates, to characterize the virulence genes, and to
identify associated risk factors. Nares swab specimens were obtained from 70 outpatients on
hemodialysis between March and June 2010. Samples were plated immediately onto S. aureus
specific media and pattern of antibacterial sensitivity was determined using disk diffusion method
Polymerase chain reaction was used to detect nuc, mecA, and genes encoding staphylococcal
toxins. Medical record of patients was explored to determine S.aureus carriage risk factors. Nasal
screening identified 42.9% S. aureus carriers with only one (3.3%) methicillin-resistant S. aureus
isolate. Among the methicillin-susceptible S. aureus isolates, high rate of penicillin resistance
(81.8%) has been detected. The identified risk factors were male gender and age ? 30 years
Research of virulence factors showed a high genetic diversity among the 30 S. aureus isolates
Twenty-one (70%) of them had at least one virulence gene, of which 3.3% were Panton-Valentine
leukocidin (lukS/F-PV) genes. S. aureus carriage must be screened for at regular intervals in
hemodialysis patients. Setting up a bacterial surveillance system is one of the strategies to
understand the epidemiology of methicillin-resistant S. aureus, to guide local antibiotic policy and
prevent spread of antibiotic-resistant S. aureus