Staphylococcus aureus as a paradigm of a persistent problem of bacterial multiple antibiotic resistance in Abha, Saudi Arabia.

We reviewed the microbiology laboratory records of Abha Maternity Hospital, Saudi Arabia for 1996 and 1998 to assess multiple antibiotic resistance, using Staphylococcus aureus as a paradigm. A total of 587 and 485 strains were isolated in 1996 and 1998 respectively. In 1996, over 60.0% were resistant to five of the nine antibiotics tested; in 1998, over 55.0% were resistant to six antibiotics. In both years, 71.0% were methicillin-resistant S. aureus. Over 85.0% of all strains were multiresistant. Although over 100 types of resistance patterns were detected, more than half of the strains displayed fewer than 15 types. The strains most frequently isolated were considered hospital strains, which accounted for most infections.