3.1. S. aureus Isolation
This study was carried out on 128 isolated S. aureus samples
collected from nose of 53 (41.4%) healthcare workers as
healthy carriers as well as 75 (58.6%) from patients referred
either to the teaching hospital or private medical diagnostic
laboratory in Gorgan, north of Iran. Clinical samples
were obtained from 24, 16, 17 and 18 cases of urine, wound,
blood and other specimens (including synovial fluid, sputum
and throat culture), respectively. Purification and determination
of S. aureus were performed by biochemical
methods, and its identification based on amplification of
the glutamate synthetase gene was confirmed which was
performed by PCR. Specific primers of mecA were applied
to assess the MRSA strains; it was found that 45 (35.2%) and
83 (64.8%) of S. aureus isolates were MRSA and methicillinsensitive
S. aureus (MSSA), respectively (8).