Trends in profiles of bacteria causing neonatal sepsis in Central Nigeria Hospital

Developing countries suffer from a huge burden of neonatal sepsis. Neonatal  mortality and long term sequelae or morbidity portends huge costs for the poor Nigerian economy. We identified trends in bacterial agents implicated in neonatal sepsis and their antibiotic susceptibility profiles at the National Hospital Abuja over two periods of three years each a decade apart. A retrospective study of bacterial agents of sepsis from 2013-2015 was carried out and this was compared to an already published study from the same hospital ten years earlier(2002-2004) to determine changing trends using standard statistical methods. We identified a significant shift to predominance of gram positive organisms especially Staphylococcus aureus (59% vs 40%) as against the predominance of gram negative organisms especially Klebsiella pneumoniae (11% vs 44%) in the previous decade. Almost all antibiotics tested (92%) had reduced susceptibility in the later review compared to the former. Surveillance of bacterial agents of neonatal sepsis is vital for the detection of trends in causative organisms and their susceptibilities. This is important to direct empiric therapy and also to encourage implementation and monitoring of antibiotic stewardship programs.