Abstract:
Bloodstream infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality among
babies in premature baby units (PBU). Periodic monitoring of the antimicrobial
sensitivity of the causative organisms in a particular setting is important for the
early management of infections in babies. The aim of this study was to determine
the proportion of blood culture positivity and to assess the factors associated with
bloodstream infections among the babies and the causative microorganisms and
their antibiotic susceptibility pattern, isolated in blood cultures of babies with
suspected sepsis admitted to PBU at District General Hospital Matara (DGHM).
An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted in microbiology
laboratory of DGHM to review blood culture reports received from PBU
retrospectively. All the consecutive samples from the PBU from January 2021 to
December 2022 were included in the study. Data on culture isolates, antibiotic
susceptibility patterns and related variables were collected and analysed using
SPSS version 25.0. Over the study period, 1612 blood cultures had been sent to
the laboratory from the PBU. Overall blood culture positivity rate was 9%. The
majority of isolates were gram-positive organisms (68%). Coagulase-negative
staphylococci (51.6%) were the most common isolates, followed by lactose
fermenting coliforms (16%) and Pseudomonas spp. (8%). Amikacin showed a
higher sensitivity than gentamicin among gram-negative organisms. Carbapenem
resistance was observed in 40.5% of the isolates. Among Staphylococcus aureus
55.6% were methicillin-resistant and 44.4% were methicillin-sensitive.
Prematurity (p=0.017) and low birth weight (p=0.002) were significantly
associated with culture positive sepsis. Preterm and low birth weight were
significantly associated with bloodstream infections among babies admitted to
PBU of DGHM. Coagulase-negative Staphylococci, lactose fermenting coliforms,
and Pseudomonas spp. were the predominant causative organisms.
