This study was carried out to investigate the Coagulase Negative Staphylococci
(CoNS) nasal carriage and the presence of methicillin resistant Coagulase Negative
Staphylococci (MR-CoNS) among health sciences students at Faculty of Medicine and Health
Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia. A total of 120 isolates of CoNS (62.5%) was isolated from
192 student volunteers. The mecA gene was detected in 15 isolates of CoNS (12.5%). Eight
out of the 15 isolates of mecA positive CoNS were resistant to cefoxitin in disc diffusion test
whereas the remaining seven isolates of mecA positive CoNS were susceptible to cefoxitin.
Analysis of questionnaires showed no significant association between CoNS nasal carriage
and the socio-demographic and risk factors except for the genders and history of cold
(P < 0.050). Generally, this finding showed a relatively low level of methicillin resistance
among CoNS nasal carriage from student volunteers.