Diabetes mellitus is a serious public health problem and remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality. The Indian diabetic population is expected to increase to 57 million by the year 2025 and 87 million by 2030. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has emerged as a serious and common problem in patients with diabetic foot Infection. Colonization with MRSA may result in prolonged hospital stay and excessive direct economic cost. Until now few studies are available about methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains isolated in diabetic foot infections in this part of India. Therefore the study was conducted to know the prevalence and antibiotic resistance pattern of MRSA isolated among the diabetic foot Infection. Materials and methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology, Shri B.M Patil Medical College Hospital and Research center, Vijayapur. A total of 96 patients with history of diabetes which yielded S. aurius were included in the study. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of the isolates was performed by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method. MRSA were detected by Cefoxitin Disc Diffusion Test, Oxacillin Disk Diffusion Method and by mecA gene PCR The male DFI patients formed the sources for majority of the isolates with percentage of 55.2%. patients with DFI were more among the elderly people age group of 41-60, followed by 61-8- age group. In the present study, isolation rate of MRSA was 44% in our study. MRSA isolates were more resistant then MSSA isolates. Detection of mecA gene is considered the gold standard for MRSA confirmation. In our study, the PCR detected 44 isolates as MRSA and the 52 isolates as MSSA. Cefoxitin and Oxacillin detected 42 and 35 isolates as MRSA respectively. Diabetic foot infections (DFI) are very serious and life threatening if not treated in time and with proper antibiotics. MRSA are one of the important causes of diabetic foot Infection and hence should be identified early for better outcome. cefoxitin disc is better than oxacillin disc for the detection of methicillin resistance. Results of cefoxitin disc diffusion test are as good as PCR used for mecA gene, and thus the cefoxitin can be used for identification of MRSA in setting where PCR is not available.

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