Objective: To assess the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization in medical students. Medical students are healthcare providers who are in close contact with patients and are at risk of transmitting MRSA to patients. However, there is little information regarding MRSA colonization among medical students.

Materials and Methods: The authors collected nasal swabs from 326 medical students, both pre-clinical and clinical students, to screen for MRSA using both culture-based and molecular techniques. Prevalence of S. aureus and MRSA colonization was compared between pre-clinical and clinical students in a cross-sectional study and among clinical students in an 8-month prospective study.

Results: S. aureus nasal colonization was found in 27.61% of medical students, 7.36% of them had MRSA colonization and there was no difference between pre-clinical and clinical students (p=0.206). Longer exposure to the clinical environment among clinical students did not increase the rate of MRSA colonization (p=0.588). The authors also reported a discrepancy in MRSA detection rate between direct culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method.

Conclusion: Detection of MRSA colonization should be done using PCR method. MRSA colonization rate in medical students was higher than in the normal population.

Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, Nasal colonization, Medical student, Thailand