Isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and saprophyticus resistant to antimicrobials isolated from the Lebanese aquatic environment

The indiscriminate use of antimicrobials especially in developing countries has evoked serious bacterial resistance and led to the emergence of new and highly resistant strains of bacteria to commonly used antimicrobials. In Lebanon, pollution levels and bacterial infections are increasing at a high rate as a result of inadequate control measures to limit untreated effluent discharges into the sea or freshwater resources. The aim of this study was to isolate and molecularly characterize various Staphylococcus strains isolated from sea water, fresh water, sediments, and crab samples collected from representative communities along the coast of Lebanon. The results on the antimicrobial resistance indicated that the level of resistance of Staphylococcus aureus varied with various antimicrobials tested. The resistance patterns ranged between 45% in freshwater isolates and 54.8% in seawater ones. Fifty one percent of the tested isolates have shown resistance to at least one of the five tested antimicrobials; with seawater isolates exhibiting the highest rates of antimicrobial resistance.