Molecular epidemiological methods have been proven to be cost-effective for surveillance and study of nosocomial outbreaks. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) is the gold standard for molecular epidemiology studies but repetitive element sequence-based polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR) could be an alternative in view that it has the same discriminatory power but is more rapid, easier and cheaper to do. The aim of this study was to study the genetic relatedness among the MRSA strains that were collected from patients in the general intensive care unit at a tertiary hospital.

The outbreak of food poisoning cases due to the ingestion of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus has been reported with significant level of morbidity worldwide. Malaysian hot and humid climate gives an opportunity for the growth and multiplication of this microorganism and its toxin production. The contamination of food items is usually because the lack of self hygiene of food handlers which transfers S. aureus from their face, hands and body. This study focus on the prevalence of S. aureus nasal carriers, the number of food contaminated with this bacterium, their antimicrobial susceptibility profile and the association between S. aureus nasal carrier in food handlers and socio-demography, carrier status, and premise's grade.