Culture and sensitivity patterns of bacteriological agents in children admitted to a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Background: Culture from various infected body fluids is one of the commonly used investigations to establish the etiology of infections and helps clinicians to select appropriate antimicrobial therapy. This study is aimed to determine the culture and sensitivity patterns of bacteriological agents grown in children admitted to a tertiary care center.
 Patients and methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Pediatric Medicine, The Children’s Hospital and the Institute of Child Health, Lahore from April 2019 to December 2019. All admitted children of age £ 15 years who fulfilled the criteria of systemic inflammatory response syndrome and sepsis were enrolled in the study. Blood and other body fluids were cultured in appropriate medium as indicated. Profile of microorganisms grown and their sensitivity patterns were noted and recorded on a predesigned data sheet. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS v.22.
 Results: A total of 500 patients were enrolled in the study. Eighty-three of them (16.6%) had growth of different microorganisms on culture and were further analyzed. Total 58 of these 83 (69.87%) were <5 years of age, Male to female ratio was 1.2:1. Blood culture was positive in 36 patients (43.37%). Cultures from throat swabs, sputum and tracheal secretions showed growth of organisms in 15 (18.10%), while cerebrospinal fluid culture was positive in 14 (16.87%) and urine culture in 11 (13.25%). Microorganism isolated were: Klebsiella spp. (15.66%), Salmonella spp. (14.45%), Escherichia coli (13.25%), Staphylococcus aureus (12.04%), Acinetobacter (12.04%), Streptococcus pyogenes (10.84%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (10.84%), Enterobacter spp. (7.23%) and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (3.61%). Klebsiella spp. and E. coli showed resistant to various antibiotics including penicillin, co-amoxiclav, cephalosporin, fluoroquinolones and nalidixic acid. Salmonella spp. was mostly sensitive to meropenem and azithromycin. Staphylococcus aureus was sensitive to cephalosporin, amikacin, vancomycin and linezolid.
 Conclusion: Commonest micro-organism isolated were Klebsiella spp., Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes. Resistance to commonly used antibiotics was observed in most cultures, which is a whistle blower against inappropriate use of these drugs.