Bacteriological profile and antimicrobial resistance patterns of bloodstream infections in a tertiary care hospital, Eastern India

Abstract

Introduction: Bloodstream infections (BSIs) are associated with a high mortality rate of 20%-50%. Blood culture is paramount to identify causative agents of BSIs to choose an appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Objectives: The present study was undertaken to analyze the various microorganisms causing BSIs and study their antimicrobial resistance patterns in a tertiary care hospital, Eastern India. Materials and Methods: A total of 239 blood specimens from clinically suspected cases of BSIs were studied for 6 months from July 2015 to December 2015. Blood specimens were incubated in BacT/ALERT ® 3D system (bioMerieux, Durham, NC, USA) a fully automated blood culture system for detection of aerobic growth. Identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing were conducted on VITEK ® 2 (bioMerieux, Durham, NC, USA) as per Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. Results: Out of 239 specimens, 41 (17.2%) yielded growth of different microorganisms. From these isolates, 20 (48.8%) were Gram-negative bacilli, 18 (43.9%) were Gram-positive cocci and rest 3 (7.3%) were yeasts. Among Gram-negative bacilli, Klebsiella pneumoniae sub spp. pneumoniae (70%) was most commonly isolated. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (88.9%) were the most common isolate among Gram-positive cocci. All three Candida spp. isolated were nonalbicans Candida (two Candida tropicalis and one Candida krusei ). Gram-negative isolates were least resistant to tigecycline and colistin. All Gram-positive cocci were sensitive to linezolid. Conclusion: Monitoring of data regarding the prevalence of microorganisms and its resistance patterns would help in currently prescribing antimicrobial regimens and improving the infection control practices by formulating policies for empirical antimicrobial therapy.