Antimicrobial Resistance Pattern of Staphylococcus haemolyticus From the Skin Microbiome

Abstract

Staphylococcus haemolyticus (S. haemolyticus) is a commensal species of the coagulase negative staphylococcus (CoNS) that colonizes the human skin. S.haemolyticus is normally nonpathogenic but can become an opportunistic pathogen when its host skin microbiome is disturbed or upon entry into the blood. One factor that may contribute to this pathogenicity is the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). S. haemolyticus is one of the nosocomial pathogens that has developed resistance to multiple antibiotics, but there is limited data on its antimicrobial resistance pattern in Malaysia. In this research, the objectives are to determine the antimicrobial resistance pattern of commensal S.haemolyticus isolated from the skin microbiome, to compare the AMR patterns with other Staphylococcus species from the skin microbiome and to confirm the identity of selected CoNS isolates using sodA gene sequence analysis.