Bacteriological Profile and Antibiogram of Endotracheal Aspirates in Intubated Patients at a Tertiary Care Hospital

Introduction - Use of invasive drugs and therapeutic methods have saved many lives but on the other hand it has caused life threatening consequences due to severe, persistent, resistant infections. There is a dire need of epidemiological studies for ventilated patients, to know the local microbial flora and their antibiotic profiles for rational use of antibiotics. Hence, this study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of pathogenic bacteria in respiratory secretions of ventilated patients and their antibiotic susceptibility patterns. Materials and Methods - Analysis of Endotracheal Aspirates of 123 intubated patients over a period of 1yr (June 2015 to May 2016) was done. Aspirates were cultured on Blood, McConkey and Chocolate Agar. Isolation and identification was done using conventional techniques and Biochemical reactions. Antibiotic Sensitivity testing was done by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method as per CLSI guidelines. Results and discussion - Out of 123 samples 105 were culture positive. 13 cases were found to be polymicrobial. 18 samples showed no growth. Klebsiella sp.(34.28%) was the most common isolate followed by Pseudomonas sp.(20%), Acinetobacter(15.2%), E. coli (10.47%), S. aureus (12.3%) and CoNS (7.6%). The gram Negative bacilli were mostly sensitive to Imipenem, Meropenem, Piperacillin Tazobactam. The Gram Positive cocci were mostly sensitive to Vancomycin and Linezolid. Conclusion - Endotracheal intubation is a major risk factor in causing iatrogenic infections to patients which lead to an increase in the morbidity and mortality. Inappropriate and inadequate antibiotic treatment causes emergence of drug resistance in pathogens and poor prognosis in patients. Hence the isolation and antibiotic susceptibility of the microorganisms is necessary for their effective management.