Profile of Microbial Isolates in Ophthalmic Infections and Antibiotic Susceptibility of the Bacterial Isolates: A Study in an Eye Care Hospital, Bangalore

Abstract

Ocular infections are common and vary from self-limiting to sight-threatening. All the structures of the eye can be infected by various microbes.The present study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of bacterial and fungal infections of the eye and also to assess the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of bacterial isolates at an eye care hospital in Bangalore, India. Material and Methods:Two hundred thirty five samples were received from infections of the eye-conjunctivitis including dacrocystis, corneal ulcers, endophthalmitis and post-traumatic infections. Culture, Gram's stain and potassium hydroxide (KOH) mount was done for allclinical specimens. Giemsa staining was done occasionally as required. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed for bacterial growth.Results: Out of 235 samples processed, 81(34.5%) yielded bacterial growth and 32 (13.6%) yielded fungal growth. One corneal scraping showed the presence of Acanthamoeba by microscopy. Predominant bacterial isolates wereStaphylococcus species 36 (39.9%), Pseudomonas species 20 (22.2%) and Escherichia coli 12 (13.3%). Among 25 fungal isolates, Aspergillus flavus 11(44%) and Fusarium 8 (32%) predominated. Bacterial strains were sus ceptible to gatifloxacin (86.4%), tetracycline (65.4%), chlorampenicol (69.1%) and least sensitive to the beta-lactam group like amoxicillin (23.5%). Conclusion:Conjunctival specimens yielded mainly bacterial growth with Staphylococcus species being the predominant isolate followed by Pseudomonas species. Maximum fungal isolates were from corneal scrapings with Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium being predominant. Majority of the bacteria were susceptible to gatifloxacin.

Ocular bacterial infections at Quiha Ophthalmic Hospital, Northern Ethiopia: an evaluation according to the risk factors and the antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial isolates

“…This variation could be attributed to the inclusion of only exra-ocular infection in other studies. Our observations were also higher than that seen in India (34.5%) [3], Japan (32.2%) [4], and Iran (37.5%) [45]; sociodemographic, geographical or climatic differences for the patient populations could partially explain this [38]. Similar to findings from India [46], Iran [9], and other studies in Ethiopia [6, 10, 11, 44], Gram-positive bacteria contributed to majority (60.7%) of the total bacterial isolates in our study.…”

“…Bacterial infections (Both Gram-positive and Gram-negative) contribute to 32 to 74% of ocular infections globally [4–10]. Staphylococci are the leading ocular isolates worldwide among the Gram-positive bacteria, [9, 11–13]; while Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli are the major Gram-negative bacteria isolated from ocular infections [3, 14, 15]. …”

An analysis of the use of antimicrobial agents in outdoor patients of ophthalmology

“…In our study, a majority of the infections were bacterial. Similar findings were reported by Hemavathi et al [5] This may be because the current study was conducted in the rainy season when bacterial infections are high. The second and third most common use of AMAs was for prophylaxis after cataract surgery and after foreign body removal/trauma, respectively.…”

Bacterial Spectrum and Antibiotic Resistance Patterns of Ocular Infection: Differences between External and Intraocular Diseases

“…There have been many reports on the bacterial profile and antibiotic susceptibility of ocular infections, with varying results between cases [ 3 – 6 ]. For example, an original report from Japan analyzed the culture-positive rate and the prevalence of drug resistance among microorganisms isolated from discharges, corneal and conjunctival tissues, vitreous fluid, or aqueous humor of patients with ocular infections over a 4-year period [ 4 ].…”

“…Benz and colleagues from Miami reported that the most common organism identified in the vitreous fluid of endophthalmitis patients was S. epidermidis (27.8%) [ 13 ], while a report from London showed that the most common organism in the endogenous bacterial endophthalmitis is S. aureus [ 14 ]. In addition to the reports from various locations, limited data from the same hospital also clearly showed that the bacterial flora that infected the ocular surface was different from the pathogen bacteria of endophthalmitis [ 5 , 6 ].…”