Prevalence, antimicrobial resistance patterns, and associated factors of Staphylococcus aureus among different clinical specimens in Wad Medani, Sudan: a four-year, laboratory-based, retrospective study

Abstract Staphylococcus aureus is a significant pathogen in clinical settings and community. Therefore, this laboratory-based, retrospective study assessed the prevalence, patterns of antimicrobial resistance, and associated factors of S. aureus. The study included all clinical samples collected by the Pathology Center for Diagnosis and Research (PCDR), University of Gezira in Sudan for culture and drug sensitivity from January 2020 to October 2023. Data were collected manually from PCDR registries. In total, 1784 clinical specimens exhibited bacterial growth. The overall S. aureus isolation rate was 39.1% (697/1784). The strains were primarily isolated from female patients (79.5%, 554/697), 38.9% of whom (271/697) were aged 30–44 years. S. aureus strains were most commonly isolated from urine samples (n = 465, 66.7%) and wound swabs (n = 150, 21.5%). The resistance rates were highest for tetracycline (55.1%, 201/365), erythromycin (51.3%, 141/275), vancomycin (49%, 118/241) and lowest for nitrofurantoin (7%, 11/157) and chloramphenicol (19.25%, 15/78). Multivariable binary logistic regression revealed associations of patient age, year of isolation, and sample type with S. aureus infection. This study reported a moderate prevalence of S. aureus that significantly increased over time. Additional investigations using an alternative method are required to verify the observed resistance of S. aureus to vancomycin.