Background: Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most important pathogens that cause disease and death in humans and animals in Iran and around the world. This study was conducted to detect antibiotic resistance genes and antibiotic susceptibility patterns in S. aureus strains isolated from patients admitted to Isfahan hospitals during 2014-2015.

Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, S. aureus isolates were collected from patients referred to the health centers in Isfahan Province, Iran. The isolates were separated using the laboratory standard methods. Antibiotic susceptibility patterns of the isolates were determined using the disk-diffusion method. Furthermore, the presence of genes responsible for antibiotic resistance including tet M, tet K, and mec A were investigated using the multiplex-polymerase chain reaction method.

Results: Phenotypic evaluation showed that the highest antibiotic resistance was seen for methicillin (90.2%), erythromycin (89.7%), ciprofloxacin (89.5%), penicillin (88%), tetracycline (82.4%), and gentamycin (75.8%) and the lowest resistance level was seen for nitrofurantoin (2%) and vancomycin (10%). Molecular study showed the presence of mec A (93%), tet M (78%) and tet K (21%) in the isolates.

Conclusion: The results of this study compared with the results of other studies show an increase in drug resistance of S. aureus isolates.