Drug Resistance Patterns of Bacterial Pathogens from Adult Patients with Pneumonia in Arba Minch Hospital, South Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is associated with high mortality. Drug resistance is common in countries where the alternative treatments are limited and available drugs are misused. In resource limited countries like Ethiopia; it is wise to determine antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of common bacterial pathogens of CAP. The objective of our study was to determine antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of common bacterial pathogens of CAP among adult patients visiting Arba Minch Hospital. Methods: A cross sectional study conducted at Arba Minch Hospital, Southern Ethiopia from February to May 2013. Sputum specimens were collected; microbiological investigations and antimicrobial susceptibility testing were performed using standard procedures. Data was processed and analyzed with SPSS version16.0. Results: Out of 170 cases, only 73 (42.9%) were culture positive. Majority of tested bacterial isolates (>86%) were sensitive to Ceftriaxone and Ciprofloxacin. Most S. pneumoniae isolates (60%) were resistant to Oxacillin. Most of S. aureus and gram negative bacterial isolates were resistance to Tetracycline (100%), Penicillin (83.3%), Ampicillin (50-100%), Doxycycline (50-100%), and Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (83.3-100%). Multidrug resistance (MDR) was observed to most (60.3%) bacterial isolates. Conclusion: Antimicrobial resistance including MDR was observed to a number of commonly used antibiotics, such as trimethoprim- sulfamethoxazole, penicillin groups and doxycycline. Hence, periodic monitoring of drug resistant pattern is essential for better management of CAP.