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Background
Staphylococcus aureus
(
S. aureus
) associated with COVID-19 has not been well documented. This cross-sectional study evaluated the association between nasal
S. aureus
carriage and COVID-19.
Methods and results
Nasopharyngeal samples were collected from 391 participants presenting for COVID-19 test in Lagos, Nigeria, and
S. aureus
was isolated from the samples. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was done by disc diffusion method. All
S. aureus
isolates were screened for the presence of
mecA
, panton-valentine leucocidin (PVL) and toxic shock syndrome toxin (TSST) virulence genes by polymerase chain reaction. Staphylococcal protein A (spa) typing was conducted for all the isolates. Participants with COVID-19 had double the prevalence of
S. aureus
(42.86%) compared to those who tested negative (20.54%). A significant association was seen between
S. aureus
nasal carriage and COVID-19 (
p
= 0.004). Antimicrobial sensitivity results showed resistance to oxacillin (100%), cefoxitin (53%), and vancomycin (98.7%). However, only 41% of the isolates harbored the
mecA
gene, with SCCmecV being the most common SCCmec type. There was no association between the carriage of virulence genes and COVID-19. A total of 23 Spa types were detected, with t13249 and t095 being the two most common spa types.
Conclusion
This study examined the association between nasal
S. aureus
carriage and SARS-COV-2 infection. Further research is required to fully explore the implications of
S. aureus
co-infection with COVID-19.