Background:The genus Burkholderia which was earlier considered as a soil saprophyte, is now gaining importance as a human pathogen. The pathogenic species include B. pseudomallei, B.cepacia, B.mallei, B.gladioli and B.thailandensis. Ongoing studies on Bukholderia spp. have resulted in the isolation of newer subspecies from human samples. Aim: The study was undertaken to know the prevalence of Burkholderia spp among the clinical isolates in our hospital setup, to identify and also to evaluate their antibiogram. Materials and Methods: Various clinical samples from patients were analysed along with their demographic data. All the specimens were processed according to the standard microbiology procedures. Results: In a total of 4115 culture positive samples, 951 (23.11%) were identified as Non Fermenting Gram Negative Bacilli (NFGNB). 30 (3.2%) of these NFGNB were identified as Burkholderia spp. with an overall prevalence rate of 0.72%. 12 (40%) were further identified as B.pseudomallei and 18 (60%) as B.cepacia complex. 76.7% of the patients were above 40 years and a male preponderance was also observed (80%). Diabetes mellitus was found to be the major risk factor (60%) and fever was the commonest presentation (53.3%). Antibiotic sensitivity testing showed highest sensitivity to minocycline and cotrimoxazole and the least to imipenam.
Conclusion:This study provides a baseline data of the present scenario of Burkholderia infections in our hospital. A continuing study will be beneficial in identifying a number of cases as this is a grossly underreported organism.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.