Introduction: Staphylococcus aureus is the most common virulent pathogen and MRSA is a major cause of Hospital and Community acquired infections.Macrolide-Lincosamide-StreptograminB (MLSB) group of antibiotics especially Clindamycin is the next preferred agent to treat MRSA infections due to emergence of vancomycin resistant strains, however resistance to these antibiotics is of major concern. The Objective of the study is to Detect and Characterize MLSB resistance phenotypes among MRSA isolates. Material &Methods: A total of 1156 pus samples were processed by conventional methods for identification of S.aureus. Cefoxitin Disc (30mcg)(Himedia) used to detect MRSA by Disc Diffusion Method as per CLSI guidelines and further tested for Clindamycin Resistance by D test. Results: A total of 169 MRSA isolates tested for Clindamycin resistance by D- test shows 53 (31.3%) were of inducible clindamycin resistance (iMLSB phenotype), 42(24.8%) were of MS phenotype and 31 (18.3%) were of constitutive resistance (cMLSB phenotype). Conclusion: Clindamycin is a preferred drug due to its excellent pharmacokinetic properties. D test is simple, easy and reliable method to delineate inducible, constitutive, MS phenotypes of clindamycin resistance.
