A Study on Bacteriological Profile and Antimicrobial Sensitivity Pattern of Blood Culture Isolates of Children with Suspected Septicemia

INTRODUCTION: Symptomatic bacteremia is very common in the pediatric age group, with a resultant high morbidity and mortality. It is a medical emergency that requires urgent rational antibiotic therapy. The gold standard test for diagnosing septicemia is the isolation of microorganisms from blood culture. The organisms implicated in these infections vary with the geographical alteration and various other factors. OBJECTIVES: Aim of the study is to determine the bacteriological profile and antimicrobial sensitivity pattern in children with suspected septicemia. METHODS: Children with age group between 1 month to 12 years were included for this study .Samples for blood cultures were collected from 300 children with suspected septicaemia over a period of one year. Blood was collected with aseptic precautions and injected to sodium thioglycollate broth in the ratio of one part of blood to ten parts of broth. Subsequently, samples were incubated at 370C for 24 hours. Subcultures were made on blood agar and MacConkey agar, Nutrient agar plates depending upon the growths. Organisms were identified and antibiotic sensitivity of the isolates were performed by using older and newer antibiotics. Microorganisms were tested for cefoxitin. Once they were found to be cefoxitin resistance, they were named as “Methicillin resistance” RESULTS: Totally 300 cases were studied, of which isolates were identified for 184 cases (61.3%). Male to female ratio was 1.21:1.0. CONS (37.5%) was the commonest organism isolated followed by klebsiella pneumoniae (19.5%). Prevalence of gram positive organism was 62.5%. Gram positive organisms showed maximum sensitivity to meropenem (93.9%), followed by piperacillin (91.3%), cefoperazone (91.3%), vancomycin (91.3%), and ceftriaxone (75.5%). The gram negative organisms showed maximum sensitivity to meropenem (91.3%), followed by piperacillin (87%), cefoperazone (75.4%), amikacin (62.3%), ofloxacin (58%). 50% of staphylococcus aureus was Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSION: Prevalence rate of bacteremia among children were 61.3% with an increasing prevalence in infants and also an observed decline in susceptibility of the pathogens to common antibiotics which ultimately stresses on the need for continuous screening and surveillance for antibiotic resistance in the pediatric care unit and calls for increased efforts to ensure more rational use of these drugs