RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To study the differences of theantimicrobial-resistant profiles between the isolates of Staphylococci aureu from children and from adults. METHODS: Staphylococci was identified by the plasma coagulase test, Staphylococci monoclonal antibody and VITEK-32 fully automated microbiology analyzer.Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done by the K-B disk diffusion for 84 Staphylococci isolates from children and 74 Staphylococci isolates from adults. Cefoxitin was used for detecting methillicin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) by the disk diffusion test. RESULTS: Seven (8%) MRSA isolates were found in Staphylococci isolates from children compared with 35 MRSA isolates (47%) in those from adults (p<0.01). All strains were susceptible to vancomycin. All strains from children were susceptible to fusidic acid. The resistant rates of the isolates from children to cefazolin, cefuroxime, gentamicin, cefoxitin, and levofloxacin were significantly lower than those from adults (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The antimicrobial resistance of the Staphylococcus aureus isolates from adults is more prevalent than that in the isolates from children.