High burden of nosocomial infections caused by multi-drug resistant pathogens in pediatric patients at hawassa university comprehensive specialized hospital

Background: Pediatric patients are at increased risk of nosocomial infections with multi-drug resistant pathogens which are more prevalent in the hospital environment. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of nosocomial infections, antibiotic resistance pattern of bacterial isolates and associated factors in pediatric patients. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted from March to August, 2016. Data included sociodemographic and clinical variables in patients clinically suspected of having nosocomial infections and collected using a structured questionnaire. Bacterial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility test was done with standard microbiological methods. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 20 and p value < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: Out of 939 children admitted to the hospital, 384 patients (40.9%) were clinically suspected and had 462 nosocomial infections. Blood stream infection was the most common site of nosocomial infections. Culture confirmed nosocomial infections were reported in 82 patients (21.4%; 95% CI, 17.2-25.8%) with 88 isolates. Among the most frequently isolated bacteria, 21 (23.9%) were Klebsiella spp, and 16 (18.2%) were S. aureus, 62.5% of which were methicillin resistant. Among all bacterial pathogens, 88.9% were multi-drug resistant. Extremely high (97.9%) multi-drug resistance was associated with Gram negative bacteria. Among these, all isolates, except E. coli, were 100% multi-drug resistant. Long hospital stay and malnutrition were significantly associated with nosocomial infections. Conclusion: The high prevalence of nosocomial infections with multi-drug resistant bacteria suggests the need for proper implementation of the nosocomial infections prevention and control measures

Aerobic bacterial isolates from post-surgical wound and their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern: a hospital based cross-sectional study

Post-operative wound infections as well as emergence and spread of drug resistant strains have been found to pose a major problem in the field of surgery. This study investigated common aerobic bacterial isolates and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns in patients with clinical diagnosis of post-surgical wound infections. Microbial analysis was carried on pus samples obtained from 194 patients with clinical diagnosis of postsurgical wound infections at Hawassa Teaching and Referral Hospital; from November 2010 to March 2011. The isolation rate of aerobic bacteria was 138 (71.1). S. aureus was the most frequent isolates (37.3); followed by E. coli (25.4); Klebsiella species (13.6); Proteus (10.2); P. aeruginosa (10.2) and coagulase negative Staphylococci (3.4). Single and multiple antimicrobial resistances were observed in 6.8 and 93.2 of the isolates; respectively. No bacterial isolates was found to be sensitive to all antibiotics tested. The high isolation rate of aerobic bacteria and their increased resistance to the commonly used antibiotics warrants the need to practise aseptic procedures and rational use of antimicrobial agents leading to minimize infection rate and emergence of drug resistance