Microbiological pattern of Neonatal Sepsis in Aswan University Hospital: hospital based study

Abstract

Background: Neonatal sepsis is still considered as one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in neonates. Objective: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence, microbiological pattern, and antibiotic susceptibility of neonatal sepsis in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Aswan University Hospital (AUH) in a specific time. Methodology: The study was a prospective cross-sectional study carried out on all neonates admitted to the NICU with suspected neonatal sepsis a from August 2017 to July 2018. All neonates were subjected to history, examination, and investigations which included complete blood count, Creactive protein, and blood cultures at the time of presentation. Results: Our study included 100 neonates with suspected neonatal sepsis. Positive growth in blood culture was 23% of cases. Isolated organisms were 11% S. aureus, 7% K. Pneumonia and 5% Enterobacter cocci. Antibiotic sensitivity revealed that the three organism were sensitive to Ciprofloxacin. All cases were resistant to Erythromycin and Gentamycin. About 8.6% were leucopenic, 38% had leukocytosis and 95.7 % had high CRP. Conclusion: This study revealed increasing rate of neonatal sepsis with high degree of antibiotic resistance to commonly used antibiotics among both gram-positive and gram-negative isolates.