A STUDY OF THE ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY PATTERN OF UROPATHOGENS ISOLATED FROM URINE CULTURES IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN TAMILNADU

BACKGROUND -Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common infections affecting men and women of all ages. The chronicity and complications of UTI are important public health problems. Since antibiotic resistance is on the rise among uropathogens, it is important to have local hospital based knowledge of the organisms causing UTI and their antibiotic sensitivity patterns to guide antibiotic policy for rational and successful treatment.OBJECTIVES- To retrospectively study the growth pattern of uropathogens isolated from urine culture samples and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern for a period of one month in a tertiary care hospital.METHODS- This retrospective study was conducted at the Institute of Microbiology, Madras Medical College, Rajiv Gandhi Govt. General Hospital, Chennai. In this study, laboratory records of patients showing positive urine culture over one month period were collected. The age and sex of the patients and the type of urinary isolates and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern were noted and analyzed.RESULTS- Of the 540 samples collected for the study (Males-42.2percent, Females-57.8percent), the isolates found were E.coli-45.9percent, Klebsiella- 23.7percent, others -30.4percent (Citrobacter, Proteus, Pseudomonas, Staphylococci, Acinetobacter, Enterococci). Amikacin, Cefotaxime, Norfloxacin, Gentamicin, Nitrofurantoin, Cotrimoxazole were the most commonly tested drugs. Most of the isolates showed sensitivity to Amikacin (70.3percent) and Nitrofurantoin (54.9percent). E.coli showed sensitivity to Cefaperazone-sulbactum (78.4percent), Amikacin (78percent), Nitrofurantoin (60.9percent) and for Klebsiella it was 93.3percent, 62percent and 50.8percent respectively. Overall, the organisms showing resistance to Norfloxacin were 81.6percent, Cotrimoxazole-71.5percent, Cefotaxime-66.4percent and Gentamicin- 60.2percent.Staphylococci and Proteus showed resistance to all antibiotics except to Amikacin. Enterococcus was sensitive only to amoxicillin.CONCLUSION-High level of resistance by the common uropathogens is a matter of concern as evidenced by this study. This mandates periodic evaluation of the culture pattern and their antibiograms to guide the antibiotic policy to prevent emergence of drug resistance