Prevalence and antibiotic sensitivity pattern of pseudomonas aeruginosa; an emerging nosocomial pathogen

Abstract

To determine current trends of antibiotic resistance among clinically significant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains causing various nosocomial and community acquired infections. A total of 158 clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa isolated in the Department of Microbiology, J.J.M.Medical College, Davangere were studied for its prevalence and susceptibility profiles. Most of the isolates were from pus (72) followed by urine (26), sputum (20), blood (16) and antral wash (10).The least number of isolates were obtained from endotracheal tube aspiration (6),aural swab(4), pleural fluid (2) and corneal scraping (2). P. aeruginosa infections were higher in males than females. The maximum numbers of isolates were from patients of age group 41-60 years. The in vitro sensitivity pattern of 158 isolates of P. aeruginosa showed highest sensitivity to imipenem (94.30%) followed by tobramycin (72.15%), amikacin (67.09%), piperacillin(64.55%) carbenicillin (62%), ceftazidime (59.5%) cephotaxime (53.16%), ciprofloxacin (50.63%), ofloxacin (39.24%), Gentamycin (31.65%) and Ceftriaxone (31.65%). The results indicate that P. aeruginosa is the most common gram-negative bacterium responsible for the nosocomial as well as community acquired infections. The excessive use of antibiotics has not only led to treat the P. aeruginosa infections but also the emergence of antibiotic resistance. The development of multidrug resistant P.aeruginosa is currently one of the greatest challenges to the effective management of infections. This suggests that in addition to curative measures promptly preventive measures such as hygienic as well as better hospital and postoperative care in administration should be adopted.