Introduction: Critically ill Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are most vulnerable for developing respiratory and urinary tract infections especially who are mechanically ventilated due to complex interplay between the endotracheal tube, host immunity and virulence of invading bacteria. The aim and objective of the study was to analyze the aerobic bacteria and their antibiotic sensitivity pattern isolated from endotracheal aspirates of ventilated patients in ICU. Materials and Methods: The prospective study was done with the endotracheal samples received in the Microbiology Laboratory in a tertiary care hospital in south India, over a period of one year. Samples were collected under sterile conditions from medical and surgical ICU patients who were ventilated for at least 48 hrs. The samples included endotracheal secretion and endotracheal tube tip which was processed as per microbiological standards. Results: A total of 41 samples from 41 patients were collected during the study period of one year. The two major reasons for admission were organophosphate poisoning and RTA with head injury. There was predominance of male patients with M: F ratio of 3:1 respectively. The organisms commonly isolated were Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, and Staphylococcus aureus. Out of 41 isolates 21 were multi-drug resistant which implies that 50% of isolates are multidrug resistant. Conclusion:Regular periodic surveillance of microbial profile and susceptibility patterns of ventilated patients in ICU should be done to detect emerging resistant bacterial strains. To combat the high antimicrobial resistance, every center should adopt a strict hospital infection control policy which includes judicious use of antimicrobial agents, use of rational antibiotic therapy, education programs and hand hygiene.

Plasmid-specified traits like lactose metabolism and L-asparginase production could be eliminated from Streptomyces longsporesflavns culture during production of fermented product (Microbial succession). In this study we mainly focus on plasmid profiling and plasmid characterization from S. longsporesflavns isolated from marine soil. Then we observe the efficacy of plasmid curing agent on S. longsporesflavns. Plasmid-free strains and cured derivatives harboring only a single plasmid (6.2 Kbp) were also obtained. Treatment of S. longsporesflavns with novobiocin at concentrations of 2.4 µg/ml could produce a large number of chloramphenicol -variants at a very high frequency (4.6%). These curing data confirmed the novobiocine act as an effective curing agent for S. longsporesflavns.

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