Ulcerative keratitis : microbial profile and sensitivity pattern : a five year study

Corneal ulceration is an important cause of ocular morbidity and blindness, especially in developing countries. A total of 3 528 cases of corneal ulcers were studied at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences Hospital, New Delhi, during a five-year period (1988 to 1992). Microorganisms could be isolated from 54.73% of the ulcers, bacteria were isolated from 21.93% of cases, fungi were isolated from 24.29% of cases, and both bacteria and fungi were isolated from 8.5% of cases. Staphylococcus albus was the single most common bacterial pathogen (42.45% of total isolates) followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (29.05%). More than 50% of the bacterial isolates were resistant to all commonly used antibiotics except fluoroquinolones. In vitro sensitivity to fluoroquinolones was greater than 90%. Aspergillus spp was the most frequently isolated fungus (41.22% of the total isolates) followed by Mucoraceae (15.55%). The findings were compared with the previous findings from the same laboratory, and variations were discussed.