Bacteriological profile and antibiotic sensitivity patterns of aerobic pus isolates: A study conducted in tertiary care hospital of North India

Abstract

Background: Wound infection is an important cause of morbidity and mortality among hospitalised patients. Therefore knowledge of pathogens causing wound infection is necessary and can be helpful in selection of appropriate antimicrobial therapy. This study was undertaken to identify the bacterial pathogens recovered from infected wounds and characterise their antimicrobial resistance profile. Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional study, carried out for a period of two years, from January 2017 to December 2018, in the Microbiology department of a tertiary care hospital in North India. During this time period all pus/wound swab samples received were analysed for the identification of microorganisms and for the determination of their antibiotic susceptibility. For data analysis SPSS version 17.0 software and MS excel 2007 were used. Results: Out of total 2516 pus/wound swab samples, 1672(66.45%) were positive for bacterial growth and of these 1672 positive culture, 1312(78.46%) were pure isolates and 360(21.53%) cultures had grown more than one organism (poly-microbial). So a total number of isolates under study was 2032. Of these 2032 aerobic culture isolates, 594(29.23%) were Gram positive cocci and 1438(70.76%) were Gram negative bacilli. The most common pathogen isolated was Escherichia coli (29.23%) followed by Staphylococcus aureus (20.47%), Klebsiella pnuemoniae (12.3%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (11.12%). Most of the isolates obtained were multi-drug resistant. Conclusion: Since the frequency of multiple drug resistance among both gram positive and gram negative bacteria is alarmingly high, therefore periodic monitoring of antimicrobial susceptibility profile of the infectious agents causing wounds infections in hospital settings is needed. This will benefit not only the patient but also assists physician in selection of appropriate chemotherapy. Keywords: Pus isolates, Bacteriological profile, Antibiotic sensitivity patterns.