Background: Bacterial sepsis is one of the most common causes of mortality and morbidity in neonates. The spectrum of bacteria that cause neonatal sepsis varies, and antibiotic resistance is an increasing problem of these bacteria. Objective: To determine the bacteriological profile and antibiotic sensitivity pattern of neonatal sepsis in the neonatal intensive-care unit (NICU), so that the empirical antibiotics can be decided to tackle the organisms in the NICU.
Objective: The objective of this study was to determine antimicrobial drug use in newborns at a tertiary care neonatal intensive care unit, to identify educational/research priorities in neonatal drug therapy. Materials and Methods: This prospective observational study included 713 patients of neonatal sepsis over a period of 18 months. Data like name, age, sex, birth weight, gestational age, antibiotics used were recorded in the previously prepared case record form. Results: Number of patients admitted in early neonatal period was 467(65.5%) and number of patients admitted in late neonatal period was 246(34.5%). The mean age of all patients being admitted in NICU was 6.23 ± 5.86 days. The majority of neonates (92.56%) were prescribed 2 to 5 antibiotics and 29.59% of neonates were prescribed 2 antibiotics. Average number of antibiotics of all patients being admitted was 3.74 ± 1.38. Most frequently used antibiotics in decreasing frequency were: Amikacin (97.19%), ampicillin + sulbactam (60.17%), vancomycin (57.64%), ceftazidime (38.71%), cefotaxime (34.22%), ciprofloxacin (26.23%), piperacillin + tazobactam (19.07%). 73% drugs were given by generic name and 53.33% drugs were prescribed from the essential drug list. Mean length of stay in NICU of all patients being admitted was 7.59 ± 5.66 days. Conclusion: The present study provides valuable insight about the overall pattern of antimicrobial drug use profile in patients of neonatal sepsis of a tertiary care hospital. It is intended to be a step in broader evaluation of safety and efficacy of drug prescription in neonatal sepsis patients.
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