CHARACTERIZATION AND ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE PATTERN OF GENUS CITROBACTER AMONG VARIOUS CLINICAL ISOLATES

Citrobacter spp. are emerging as an important cause of nosocomial infections. This study was conducted to identify Citrobacter upto species level to quantitate and assess the real magnitude of these infections, and to study the pattern of antibiotic resistance among them. MATERIALS AND METHODS The Citrobacter spp. were identified till species level using O’Hara scheme of identification antibiotic susceptibility testing was done as per CLSI guidelines. RESULTS AND OBSERVATIONS Out of 14555 samples received, 228 were identified as Citrobacter spp. The overall prevalence was 1.57 %. Maximum Citrobacter isolates were from urine (46.05%) followed by pus (35.53%) and blood (14.03%). C. koseri (45.61%) was the most predominant species followed by C. freundii (34.65%) while other species constituted 19.74%. Among all the Citrobacter isolates in our study, 76.32% were from indoor patients while 23.68% were from outdoor patients. CONCLUSION: The antimicrobial sensitivity patterns of common Citrobacter isolates will provide guidelines to the clinicians to start appropriate empirical antibiotic therapy depending upon the clinical scenario. This can prevent indiscriminate use of antibiotics.