ABSTRACT
Background: Respiratory tract infections (RTI’s) are the most frequent infections among patients. The consequences of increased drug resistance are far reaching since bacterial infection of the respiratory tract (RT) is a major cause of death from infectious disease. Objective: This study was focused on obtaining a comprehensive insight into the microbial profile, its prevalence and the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of the isolates in respiratory tract infections. Methods: The present study was conducted in the Microbiology Department of a Teaching Government Hospital during January 2014 to June 2014. The Respiratory Tract samples were obtained from the patients (n=1376) of all the age and sex groups, with signs and symptoms suggestive of RTIs. Following culture, the isolated organisms were identified and antimicrobial sensitivity was performed by standard methods. Results: Out of the 1376 RT specimens evaluated, 684(49.70%) were culture positive. A Study showed predominance of Gram negative bacterial cause (67.39%) among the RTI’s with Klebsiella pneumoniae (41.66%) as a major pathogen followed by Candida spp (17.39%), Staphylococcus aureus (12.86%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (11.69%), and E coli (10.96%). Gram-negative organisms showed increased resistance to routinely used antibiotic. Gram positive organisms showed 100% susceptibility to vancomycin, linezolid, clindamycin, tetracycline, amoxclav and followed by their susceptibility against gentamycin, penicillin.Conclusion: Therefore, we can conclude that for effective management of RTI’s, an ultimate and detailed bacteriological diagnosis and susceptibility testing are required to overcome the global problem of antibiotic resistance.