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Objective: To investigate the prevalence of antibiotic resistance among Staphylococcus aureus isolated in Kuwaiti hospitals. Materials and Methods:S. aureus were isolated and identified following standard microbiological methods. Antibacterial susceptibility test was performed by disk diffusion and the measurement of minimum inhibitory concentration with E-test strips. Results: A total of 1,846 S. aureus isolates were analyzed from 13 hospitals between 1 March and 30 October 2005. They were isolated from 1,765 (95.6%) inpatients and 81 (4.4%) outpatients. Methicillin resistance was detected in 588 (32.0%) of the isolates. The methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) consisted of 461 (78%) multiresistant and 127 (22%) nonmultiresistant isolates. The nonmultiresistant MRSA consisted of epidemic MRSA-15 and community-associated MRSA. The community-associated MRSA was detected in all hospitals with MRSA, indicating its establishment in Kuwaiti hospitals. The proportion of isolates resistant to gentamicin, kanamycin, erythromycin, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, fusidic acid and trimethoprim was higher among MRSA than methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolates. Twenty-four and 22% of MRSA and MSSA isolates, respectively, expressed reduced susceptibility to vancomycin (minimum inhibitory concentration = 3–4 mg/l). Conclusion: The study revealed the presence of methicillin resistance in 32% of S. aureus isolated in Kuwaiti hospitals and revealed an increase in the number of MRSA and MSSA with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin. Copyright © 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]