An eight-year review of blood culture and susceptibility among sepsis cases in an emergency department in North eastern Malaysia
- Author:
Hashairi, F.*
;
Hasan, H.
;
Azlan, K.
;
Deris, Z.Z.
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- From:Tropical Biomedicine
2011;28(3):599-605
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
An understanding of common pathogens and their antibiotic sensitivity patterns is
critical for proper management of sepsis in Emergency Department (ED). The goal of the
study was to identify common organisms isolated from blood cultures of patients attended to
ED and their antimicrobial susceptibility. Beginning from 2002, all cases of positive blood
culture collected by the ED, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) were recorded and
analysed. Over the period of eight years, we documented 995 cases of positive blood cultures.
Of these samples, 549 (55.2%) were Gram-negative bacteria; 419 (42.1%) were Gram-positive
bacteria; 10 (1.0%) were anaerobic organisms; 10 (1.0%) were fungus; and 7 (0.7%) cases
were mixed organisms. Gram-negative bacteria were observed to develop more resistance to
antimicrobial agents, especially those commonly used in an outpatient setting with less than
80% sensitivity to ampicillin, cotrimoxazole and ciprofloxacin. By contrast, there has been no
marked change in the sensitivity trends of Gram-positive bacteria over the same period. In
conclusion, ED physicians are more equipped to initiate empirical antimicrobial therapy
especially when dealing with possibility of Gram-negative sepsis.
- Full text:W020150615413143091844.pdf
