Study of bacteriological profile and its antibiogram in the newborn care unit of a rural tertiary care centre in India

Abstract

Objectives: Neonatal sepsis is a serious medical condition that affects the newborn babies up to 28 days of postnatal life. Regular monitoring of the prevalent bacterial agents causing sepsis is essential for better patient management. The objective of the study was to determine the bacteriological profile and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of culture-positive neonatal sepsis in the newborn care unit of a rural tertiary care centre in India. Material and Methods: The venous blood sample collected on the day of admission or on the 3rd day of admission for the neonates suspected to have sepsis with poor clinical improvement after a 2-day trial of empirical antibiotic therapy was subjected to culture and sensitivity pattern. Antibiotic susceptibility test was done using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Data regarding the identified organism and its antibiotic sensitivity pattern from the blood samples of neonates were collected from the newborn care unit records. Results: Out of 387 samples, culture positivity was 10.8%. Among culture positive isolates 57.14% are Gram-negative isolates and Klebsiella being the most common Gram-negative organism and 42.85% of Gram-positive isolates with staphylococcus predominance. Conclusion: Klebsiella (40.4 %) followed by Staphylococcus (35.7%) are the most common bacterial pathogens identified in the rural newborn care centre in India. The routine empirical antibiotics in our unit cefotaxime and ampicillin are 100% resistant and need appropriate changes in the antibiotic policy by making piperacillin or cefoperazone and gentamicin as first-line empirical antibiotics.