1Assistant Professor, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar
26th Semester MBBS Student, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar
3Professor, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar
4Professor and HOD, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar
*Corresponding Author: Dr. Subhra Snigdha Panda Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, P.O. KIIT, Bhubaneswar-751024, India
Online published on 13 November, 2019.
As Coagulase negative Staphylococci (CoNS) are frequent contaminants of blood cultures, it is necessary to determine if CoNS in blood culture is due to clinically significant infection. This study aims to determine the prevalence of true bacteraemia due to CoNS in our institution as well as the antibiotic resistance profile of these CoNS isolates.
A prospective study was done for a period of 7 months. True or significant CoNS bacteraemia was determined by a modified clinical and microbiological criteria.
CoNS were isolated from 144 (16.6%) of the total 866 blood cultures. CoNS species were considered true pathogens in 38 (26.4%) cases. The most common species isolated was Staphylococcus haemolyticus, 15 (39.5%) followed by Staphylococcus epidermidis, 7(18.4%). Highest sensitivity was to Vancomycin (100%) followed by Tigecycline (94.7%).Methicillin resistant CoNS (MR CoNS) was seen in 24(65%) among the 38 CoNS isolates causing true bacteraemia. There is an overall high prevalence of resistance to non beta lactam antibiotics among MR CoNS as compared to MS CoNS with the difference being statistically significant for ciprofloxacin (64.1% vs 18.1%, P < 0.001), erythromycin(76.4% vs 45.4%, P= 0.034) and rifampicin (48.7% vs 13.6%, P=0.039).
It is necessary to determine if CoNS bacteraemia is to be treated to prevent unnecessary expenditure and increasing antimicrobial resistance.
Coagulase negative staphylococci, bacteraemia, contaminants, antimicrobial resistance
