A PILOT STUDY ON BACTERIAL PROFILE OF NEONATAL SEPSIS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL SERVING RURAL POPULATION

BACKGROUND: One of the major causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality in India is bacterial sepsis. AIM: To evaluate the bacterial profile of neonatal sepsis cases of the hospital. STUDY DESIGN: A prospective pilot study was conducted. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood cultures were done from all neonates admitted with signs of sepsis over a period of two months in a tertiary care hospital serving a rural population. Bacti Alert system (Bio-Merieux) was used in this study and bacterial identification was done by biochemical tests. RESULTS: 72 neonates were included in the study out of which 23 (33%) had positive blood cultures. 12 out of 23 (52%) grew S. aureus, followed by 4 out of 23(17%) enterococcus species. The other species identified were Klebsiella, Escherichia coli, Listeria, Coagulase negative staphylococcus and Candida species. The staphylococci and enterococci were 100% sensitive to Vancomycin. The gram negative bacilli were found susceptible to Piperacillin-tazobactam and to Imipenem. Drug sensitivity was not done for the Candida. Babies with late onset sepsis were culture positive in greater numbers. CONCLUSION: Changing trends in organisms causing neonatal sepsis should be followed up in further prospective studies.