ABSTRACT
Objective: To find out specifically the community acquired microorganisms that cause severe sepsis and septic shock in patients admitted to Alkhor hospital intensive care unit and it is susceptibility to antimicrobial agents. Methods: A Retrospective file review was performed on all adult patients who were admitted to intensive care unit with primary presenting diagnosis of severe sepsis or septic shock between 1st of January 2010 and 31st of December 2012. The primary outcome variable was inpatient mortality. Results: The top three organisms found were: Streptococcus pneumonia, Klebsiella pneumonie, and E. coli. 59% of patients did not have any organisms growing in the culture. Conclusions: This study concluded that 41% of blood cultures for patients with severe sepsis and septic shock had shown growth of micro-organism. The top three micro-organisms were Streptococcus pneumonia, Klebsiella pneumonie, and E. coli. Resistance to empiric antibiotic therapy was reported to be 35.7%. Patient age, antibiotic resistance and negative cultures were found to be the major risk factors for mortality in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock.