Blood stream infections-prevalence in a tertiary care institute, Central India

Septicaemia is responsible for high morbidity and mortality in developing countries like India requiring prompt antimicrobial treatment for its proper management.

Detection of etiological agent from blood culture of suspected septicaemia patients and it's antibiogram.

A total of 227 blood culture samples were collected in Microbiology Laboratory during 1 July-2016 to 30 June-2017. Etiologic agents were isolated using conventional as well as automated blood culture methods and their antibiotic susceptibility was determined using standard protocol.

Among clinically suspected septicemic patients 39(17.18%) were culture positive. The most common organisms isolated were S. aureus(12), CONS(8), Klebsiella pneumoniae(5) and C. albicans(4) in decreasing order of their incidence. 75% of S. aureus were methicillin resistant. All Gram positive organisms were sensitive to Glycopeptide antibiotics but showed variable resistance to other antibiotics. Gram negative bacteria were multidrug resistant with high degree of resistance towards Quinolones, Cephalosporins but a high sensitivity to Carbapenems. Only one non fermenter was resistant to Carbapenems which was sensitive to Colistin.

The use of automation can be a useful tool for isolation of rare organisms. The incidence of bacterial culture positivity is on the rise and fungal isolation is also common. In this era where over the counter drugs are easily available, drug abuse is difficult to control. But, having said that, formulation of Hospital Antibiotic Policy and its strict implementation is the need of the hour, which will eventually help us to control the menacing rise in antimicrobial resistance.