Background: Neonatal sepsis is an important cause of morbidity & mortality among NICU graduates. The etiology of neonatal septicemia has variations depending upon various customs and practices in the perinatal and neonatal period and geographical area. Therefore, knowledge of microbial profile and antimicrobial susceptibility is very important for management of neonatal sepsis. The aim of our study is to determine the bacteriological profile of neonatal septicemia and the antimicrobial sensitivity pattern.
Methods: This prospective study was conducted in the NICU of Department of Pediatrics, KD Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre Mathura (U.P.) among 100 neonates from july 2019 to December 2019. Two ml of venous blood was taken from each neonate & cultured by automated BacT/Alert & VITEK2 method for rapid isolation & sensitivity test. A structured proforma was used to gather information for baseline features like age, gender, birth weight, gestational age, mode of delivery of the neonate and age of onset of illness.
Result: In the present study, both Gram-negative & Gram-positive organisms are responsible for neonatal sepsis. Klebsiella pneumoniae was found to be the predominant pathogen followed by Staphylococcus aureus. Most organisms are multi-drug resistant.
Conclusion: Cefotaxim, amikacin, meropenam and vancomycin were found useful in treating neonatal septicemia and hence incorporated in our institutional antibiotic policy for use in NICU. Authors recommend an effective infection-control programme, regular antibiotic sensitivity surveillance, encouragement of rational antibiotic use. It will reduce nosocomial infections and development of bacterial resistance.
Keywords: Neonatal sepsis, antimicrobial susceptibility, Klebsiella, antibiotic susceptibility surveillance.