Prevalence of Gram Negative Bacteria Isolated from Patients with Burn Infection and their Antimicrobial Susceptibility Patterns in Kirkuk City, Iraq

Burn injury compromises the skin barrier and enables bacterial infection, hence delaying burn wound healing. This study aimed to determine the microbial profile of burn wounds, and resistance patterns of microbes with respect to the source of the injured patient's wound. From 130 wound swab samples were collected from burn patients at Azadi Teaching Hospital, Kirkuk/Iraq. Sterile swabs moistened with sterile saline were used to swab burn wounds. The swabs were plated on blood agar and MacConkey agar for 24 hrs at37°C. Biochemical tests were carried out on the representative isolate on each plate, and antibacterial sensitivity pattern was determined using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. The study revealed that the main source of burns was gas flames (60%) and scalds (29.23%). Out of the 130 samples analysed, (72.3%) were culture positive and 27.7% were culture negative for bacteria. The predominant gram negative bacteria isolated were, Pseudomonas aeruginosa 40(42.5%) followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae 23 (24.46%), Enterobacter cloacae 21 (22.34%) and Escherichia coli 10(10.63%) were the least frequently isolated bacteria. These isolates showed high resistance towards Beta lactam antibiotics and showed varying resistance levels towards non bata lactam antibiotics (Ciprofloxacin Amikacin and Gentamicin). Resistant gram negative bacteria are the most common isolates associated with burn wounds. Hence a careful selection of antibiotics to control the wound infection is required for proper management of burn wounds in order to help reduce morbidity and mortality.