Phenotypic Characterization and Antibiotic Susceptibility Studies of Coagulase- Negative Staphylococci (Cons) Isolated From Chronic Skin Ulcer of Patients In Kaduna State

The study was aimed at characterizing the different Coagulasenegative staphylococci (CoNS) isolated from chronic skin ulcer out-patients attending four different hospitals in Kaduna State, Nigeria. A total of 292 swab samples were collected from January 2012 to January 2013. The samples were cultured using Chocolate and Blood agar media. Phenotypic characterization of the CoNS revealed the presence of Staphylococcus epidermidis (n=10, 28.5%), Staphylococcus haemolyticus (n=8, 22.9%), Staphylococcus chromogenes (n=7, 20.0%) Staphylococcus hyicus (n=4, 11.4%), Staphylococcus xylosus (n=5, 14.3%) and Staphylococcus intermedius (n=1, 2.9%). The different sites of chronic skin ulcer from where the CoNS were recovered revealed that the leg harbored the highest number of CoNS isolates of (n= 1, 51.4%), while the breast has the least isolate of (n= 1, 2.9%). The CoNS isolates were found mostly to be susceptible to Gentamicin, Ciprofloxacin, Trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole, Chloramphenicol, Vancomycin and Erythromycin. However, they showed resistance mostly to Cefoxitin. Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid and tetracycline.