NEONATAL SEPSIS: ANTIBIOTIC SENSITIVITY & RESISTANCE PATTERN OF COMMONLY ISOLATED PATHOGENS IN A NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT OF A TERITIARY CARE HOSPITAL, SOUTH INDIA

Abstract

Neonatal bacterial sepsis is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in neonates. Bacterial pathogens and drug resistance are different in hospitals of each country. In this study we identified bacterial pathogens and its sensitivity and resistance pattern for various antibiotics in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), kochi during September 2011 to April 2012. A total of 150 newborns admitted in the NICU with symptoms/signs of bacteremia/septicemia or developed sepsis during their stay in NICU were included in the study. 57 (38%) out of 150 patients admitted during the study period had proven sepsis confirmed by positive blood culture. Gram negative organisms accounted for 87.72 % of all positive cultures. Among the culture positive specimens, Klebsiella pneumoniae (45.61 %) and Coagulase Oxidase Negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) (12.28%) were the commonly isolated gram negative and gram positive organism respectively.