Adam Mustapha, Hauwa Suleiman Bello, Mohammad Musa Ibrahim, Tijani Isa, Ibrahim Yusuf Ngoshe, Sheriff Wakil and Rabi Yakubu Bello
Staphylococcus aureus is a classical pathogen that is implicated in a wide range of diseases. It is a resident flora of the human skin and can easily contaminate open wounds and gain access into circulation and inflict damage to the host. This study is designed to identify Staphylococcus aureus from various clinical samples and determine the isolates’ ability to form biofilm. Eighty-six (86) clinical samples were collected aseptically from patients attending University of Maiduguri Teaching hospital. The samples were processed using standard microbiological methods for the identification of S. aureus. Samples were cultured on 5% blood agar and presumptive S. aureus isolates were further confirmed by biochemical identification at the Microbiology Laboratory of University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. Biofilm formation was analysed using three detection methods which comprise of Congo Red Agar (CRA) method, Tube Method (TM) and Microscopy Method (MM). Out of the eighty-six (86) samples processed, sixty-one (61) yielded positive growth of Staphylococcus aureus, which gives a bacterial recovery rate of 71.0%. The yield was found to be highest from blood samples (36.1%) and wound swab samples (18.0%). Majority of the isolates were alpha-hemolytic (50.2%) while the rest were beta-hemolytic (49.8%). Of the S. aureus, 29.5% of the isolates were good mucoid variants, 32.8% were strong mucoid variants while 13.1% were complete mucoid variants. 55.4% of isolates tested positive to biofilm formation according to the CRA method, 30.4% according to Tube method and 14.3% according to Microscopy method. Biofilm formation is a recipe for the chronicity of infection and if not detected, can delay therapy and increase the cost of management of an infectious diseases.
