Aerobic gram-negative bacilli in Zawia Central Hospital, Libya

ABSTRACT

Gram-negative bacilli from the hospital environment colonize the patient's pharyngeal, intestinal and other body sites within the first few hours to days of hospitalization. 26.7% of positive cultures from vascular catheters [used commonly in modern medical practice and especially in intensive care units] were Gram-negative bacilli including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter species, Escherichia coli, Serratia species, Klebsiella species and Proteus species. Settlement plates set in the hospital yielded 84 Gram- negative strains [constituting 21.9% of all aerobic airborne bacteria] divided into 14 species exhibiting variabilities in their resistance patterns to 17 antibiotics. Proteus mirabilis was the most frequently isolated species of the Gram-negative bacilli