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Hands may be the most important means by which enteric pathogens are transmitted. Skin hygiene particularly of the hands, has been accepted as a primary mechanism to control the spread ofinfectious agents. Therefore the present study was undertaken to evaluate the number and type of enteric bacterial pathogens associated with hands. A total of 160 hands swab samples of 80 studentsof KG, PS, SS, UG, and PG were analyzed. Pathogens were isolated from hands includes Escherichia coli (22%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (12%), Staphylococcus aureus (15%), Proteus mirabilis (11%), Citrobacter freundii (10%), Enterobacter aerogenes (8%), Streptococcus sp. (7%), Klebsiella sp. (6%), Micrococcus sp. (5%) and Salmonella typhi (4%). The prevalence of the bacterial pathogens was high in students of K.G. and primary than those in secondary schools and colleges. The data indicated that the hands of the female were more contaminated than male and the left hand was more contaminated than the right hand. Thus, the potential risk factors for transmission of enteric pathogens through hands should be investigated in order to improve the general health of the students. Key words: - Hand hygiene, microbial load, Students, infectious diseases, personal hygiene)

Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an important nosocomial pathogen. We report the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of MRSA in Amravati, Maharashtra state (India). A total of 150 healthcare-associated (HA) sources (doctors mobiles phone and wound/pus swabs), and 160 community-associated (CA) sources (hand swab) were screened for MRSA and their antibiotic resistance pattern was performed. Out of 41 isolated strains of S. aureus, 77% from HA and 50% CA samples were found to be methicillin resistant. There were high prevalence of MRSA in doctor's mobile phone (83%) and wound/pus (71%) (HA sources) than the hand swab. Almost all HA and CA MRSA strains were resistant to penicillin and penicillin V (100%) followed by cloxacillin and cephalexin, co-trimoxazole. About 56 - 67% HA and CA-MRSA strains were resistance to erythromycin, ceftazidime, lincomycin, ceftazidime, cephalexin, erythromycin and tetracycline indicating high degree of multi-resistance MRSA prevalence in the region. However, 67% strains of CA and 56% strains of HA were sensitive to vancomycin. The study showed high prevalence of MRSA in hospital setting indicating need of good control measures such as proper hand hygiene, avoiding mobile phone while wound dressing and treating patient, surveillance cultures and monitoring of susceptibility patterns of MRSA may also help in arresting the spread of infections in this part of India. Keywords: MRSA, Wound, Mobile Phone, Hands swab African Journal of Infectious Diseases Vol. 1 (1) 2007: pp. 52-56