Multi-drug Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolated from Intensive Care Burn Unit

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that develops life-threatening infections in patients with immunological system defects like burn patients. P. aeruginosa is naturally resistant as well as able to get acquired resistance to effective antibiotics which lead to problematic conditions. This study was designed to isolate P. aeruginosa from burn patients and to evaluate drug susceptibility for determination of multidrug- resistant isolates of P. aeruginosa. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was carried out on the patients visiting Victoria Hospital, Kalasipalayan, Bangalore, India from Nov 15, 2010 to June 15, 2011. The pus sample was collected using sterile cotton swab from 100 patients with burn wound infections. P. aeruginosa was identified by standard bacteriological methods. The drug susceptibility pattern using 12 different antimicrobial agents (Amikacin, Ciprofloxacin, Gentamicin, Cefotaxime, Imipenem, Meropenem, Cefoperozone, Tobramycin, Piperacillin/Tazobactum, Cefepime, Ceftazidime, and Norfloxacin) was performed for all the isolates using Kirby Bauer's Disc Diffusion Method. Results: P. aeruginosa were isolated from 17 clinical samples and all of these isolates were Multidrug Resistance P. aeruginosa (MDRPa). Resistance rates to various antibiotics were as follows: Amikacin (47.1%) Ciprofloxacin (35.5%) Gentamicin (47.1%) Cefotaxime (76.5%) Imipenem (88.2%) Meropenem (94.1%) Cefoperozone (94.1%) Tobramycin (100%) Piperacillin/Tazobactum (82.4%) Cefepime (64.7%) Ceftazidime (70.6%) Norfloxacin (70.6%). Conclusion: Optimization of using antimicrobial agents and control of infection is recommended to prevent the increasing population of MDRPa in the new burn centre setting in this study.