Bacterial profile and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of isolates recovered from sterile body fluids referred to the National Reference Laboratory

Introduction: Assessing the presence of bacterial etiologies and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns is very crucial for proper diagnosis of different infections and controlling antimicrobial resistance in the clinical setting with the ultimate goal of better patient care and outcome. Objective: To assess bacterial etiologies and the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of isolates recovered from sterile body fluids from patient specimens referred to National Bacteriology and Mycology Reference Laboratory in Ethiopia. Method: This is a retrospective study that used routine data from laboratory records from April 1, 2014, to August 30, 2018 from patients in which culture was performed form sterile body fluids in the National Bacteriology and Mycology Laboratory, Ethiopian Public Health Institute. Data were extracted from the laboratory registration book. The data collection sheet was prepared to collect the data and was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 23. Groups were compared using Chi2 and descriptive analysis was performed. Results: Out of the total 654 body fluid specimens processed in the laboratory, the culture-positive result was documented on 75 (11.5%) of which 19 (25.4%) of them were Gram-positive bacteria and 56 (74.6%) were Gram-negative. The predominant bacteria species isolated were Escherichia coli (n=13; 17.3 %), followed by Acinetobacter spp. (n=12; 16%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=10; 13.3 %), Staphylococcus aureus (n=10; 13.3%) Neisseria meningitidis (n=9; 9.3%). Pseudomonas spp. (n=5; 6.3%). The highest bacterial isolation rate was obtained in the age group between 1-10 years old. From the Gram-negative, Escherichia coli were the dominant isolates and of which 6 (46.2%) isolates were multidrug-resistant. From the Gram-positives bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus was the dominant isolate with one isolate being multidrug-resistant. Conclusion: Emerging ESKAPE (Enterobacter species, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter species, Pseudomonas species, and Enterococcus faecium) organisms have been isolated in this study and this remains crucial and occurrence of multidrug resistance patterns of bacterial isolates of great public health importance indicating that farther researches also must be conducted in different parts of the country.