Bacteriological Profile of Neonatal Septicaemia and Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern of the Isolates Admitted in SCANU of a Tertiary Levels Hospital of North Bengal, Bangladesh
Authors: Chharra Samia , Khan Saira , Shukur Abdus , Hossain Md. Rezaul , Haque Samina , Faruque Shahriar 
Published: April 2023

Introduction: Neonatal septicemia is one of the most common causes of infection and mortality in neonates, due to which 30–50% of neonates die each year in developing nations. Various studies have suggested that bacteremia occurs in 20% of neonates, and approximately 1% die due to neonatal sepsis. It affects newborns below 1 month of age and encompasses systemic infections including meningitis, pneumonia, arthritis, osteomyelitis and urinary tract infections. Objective: To assess the Bacteriological profile of neonatal septicaemia and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the isolates admitted in SCANU of a tertiary levels hospital of North Bengal, Bangladesh. Methods: A prospective study was conducted including 50 suspected cases of septicemia admitted to the Special Care Neonatal Unit (SCANU) of the selected Department of Paediatrics, TMSS Medical College, Bogura Bangladesh July to December 2022. Demographic data included birth weight, gestational age, postnatal age, and treatment as well as survival outcome. Clinical and laboratory data included the number of days between birth and admission to the SCANU, admitting and discharge diagnoses, and pharmacological treatment. Data was analysed by percentages of each antibiotic used. And which organism was responsible for neonatal sepsis. Results: Total 50 cases clinically suspected neonatal sepsis were included in the study. The mean age was 8.33±7.36 days, mean birth weight was 2816.25±288.6gm, male were predominant which was 70%. Among gestational age of the Neonates having septicemia Preterm (<37) 66% and Term (37 up to 42) 36%. Out of the 50 proven sepsis cases, 36 cases (72%) were early onset and 14 cases (28%) were late onset. In this study out of 50 cases 16 cases were culture positive septicemia which was 32%. Gram negative organism were predominant with 10 isolates (62.5%) in comparison to gram-positive 6 (37.5%) isolates was the most common S. aureus (25.0%) and E. coli (12.5%) among the organism isolated. Other organisms isolated were Staphylococcus Pneumoniae (6.3%), Staphylococcus epidermidis (18.7%), Proteus (18.7%), Listeria species (6.3%), Pseudomonas (6.3%), and Enterococci (6.3%). In this study, Staphylococcus aureus was the commonest organism isolated from both EOS (20%) and LOS (33.3%) followed by Staphylococcus epidermidis (10% & 33.3%). Amoxiclave is highly sensitive to S. aureus & E. coli. In this study, vancomycin showed 25.0% sensitivity to S. aureus but for Nitrofurantoin it was only 33.3%. The Listeria species isolates here were 100% sensitive to meropenum. In our study, ciprofloxacin showed 33.3% to 100% sensitivity to different isolates. Conclusion: In the present study, high bacterial resistance among the pathogens suspected to cause neonatal septicemia is demonstrated which can be controlled by prudent use of available antibiotics. This study suggests regular monitoring of the antimicrobial sensitivity of the causative organisms in a particular setting is very important.