English

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Neonatal sepsis is a clinical syndrome characterized by the systemic signs of infection and accompanied by bacteremia in the first month of life. In spite of great advances in antimicrobial therapy, neonatal life support measures and the early detection of risk factors, septicemia continues to be a major cause of mortality and morbidity among neonates around the world. Objective: To Review the bacterial pathogens of neonatal septicemia and their antibiotic sensitivity pattern. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The bacterial pathogens and their antimicrobial susceptibility test reports from 160 neonates clinically suspected of sepsis, admitted to Neonatal Intensive care Unit (NICU) of Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS), over one year period (Jan 2010 to Dec 2010) was studied from the records of Microbiology Laboratory, MIMS. RESULTS: Out of 160 cases, 54(33.75%) were positive in blood culture. Among the positive cases, Klebsiella species 20(37%) was the most frequent isolate followed by Staphylococcus aureus 11(20.3%), E. Coli 6 (11.1%), Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus 5(9.2%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 3(5.5%), Acinetobacter species 2(3.7%), Citrobacter 2(3.7%) and Proteus mirabilis 2(3.7%). Klebsiella species showed 100% resistance to ampicillin and 45% resistance to Amikacin. About 90% of Staphylococcus aureus showed resistance to penicillin and 100% of them were susceptible to Vancomycin. All Gram negative isolates were 100% susceptible to Imipenem and more than 77% were sensitive to Amikacin. CONCLUSION: Gram negative septicaemia was predominantly encountered with high resistance to first line drugs like Gentamincin and Ampicillin. Thus the initial therapy in our hospital may be aimed at Gram negative bacteria and Amikacin may be used as first drug of choice, while Imipenem is still the best for infection with multidrug resistant gram negative bacteria.