Aetiology and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of bacterial isolates in community acquired pneumonia patients at Asir region, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Community acquired pneumonia is a commonly presenting respiratory tract infection around the world. Its treatment is problematic at times because of diversity of infecting organisms and change in susceptibility pattern to commonly prescribed antimicrobials. Methods: This was a single centred prospective cross sectional study. About 165 patients diagnosed with community acquired pneumonia were included and blood samples, sputum samples were taken for culture sensitivity and antimicrobial susceptibility. Results: Of the 165 patients (43% males and 57% females), 77 (46.6%) patients tested positive for bacterial pathogens out of a total of 165. The most common pathogen was Streptococcus pneumonia (34%) followed on by Hemophilus influenza (16%), Staphylococcus aureus (13%) Klebsiella (12%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (10%), Legionella (6%), Eschericha coli (5%) and Proteus mirabilis (2%). The sensitivity pattern of all 77 bacterial isolates was high for cephalosporins (ceftriaxone, 81%; ceftazidime, 80%), penicillins (amoxicillin/sulbactam, 70%), quinolones (levofloxacin, 74%) and aminoglycosides (amikacin, 80.5%). The sensitivity to macrolides (azithromycin, 59.7%; clarithromycin, 53.2%) and tetracycline's (55.8%) is somewhat intermediate and low for ampicillin (42.8%) and cotrimoxazole (51.9%). Conclusion: The decreased susceptibility to macrolides and tetracyclines is a matter of concern and judicious use of antimicrobials should be done to prevent further rates of resistance.