Abstract:
Burn infection is a main cause of morbidity and mortality. Burn patients are more susceptible to get infections in comparison with other patients. This study has been conducted to determine bacterial pathogens frequently causing burn infections and their antimicrobial resistance patterns.
This study was carried out on thirty patients admitted to the burn unit at Al-Hussain Teaching Hospital/Thi-Qar Province during a five-month period from August 2015 to December 2015. A swab has been taken from each patient. Antibiotic sensitivity was performed by the disc diffusion method. Tested antibiotics used in this study were ampicillin, augmentin, ciprofloxacin, cefepime, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, gentamicin, imipenem, tobramycin, vancomycin, levofloxacin, piperacillin, ticarcillin-clavulanic acid, netlimicin, amikacin, chloramphenicol, ticarcillin, , tetracycline, Co-Trimethaxazole and rifampicin.
Thirty four bacterial isolates were obtained from thirty swabs. We found that the most predominant bacterial isolate was Pseudomonasspp. (49%), followed by Klebsiella spp. (21%), Staphylococcusspp. (12%), Escherichia coli (E.coli) (6%), Proteus spp. (6%), Acinetobacter spp. (3%) and Enterococcus spp. (3%). Polymicrobial infection was obtained in (13.3%) of patients.
All isolated pathogens were multi-drug resistant.Acinetobacter spp. and Enterococcus spp. were the most resistant pathogens (100%), followed by E. coli (90.47%), Staphylococcusspp. (79.17%) , Klebsiella spp. (68.75%), Proteus spp.(68.75%) and Pseudomonas spp. (65.88%). Gram-positive bacteria showed complete resistance against ampicillin, while Gram-negative bacteria showed high resistance against augmentin, cefepime, ceftriaxone, tobramycin ,piperacillin, ticarcillin-clavulanic acid, amikacin, chloramphenicol, and tetracycline.
Non-significant difference was found among the tested antibiotics concerning resistance (P value >0.005). However ciprofloxacin, gentamicin and imipenem were significantly effective against most types of pathogens compared to all tested antibiotics (P value <0.005).
In conclusion Pseudomonas spp. were the most predominant pathogen. All isolated pathogens were multi-drug resistance which is an emerging problem. We need more periodic studies to evaluate bacterial resistance from time to time to help in treatment policy. |