BACTERIOLOGICAL PROFILE AND ANTIBIOGRAM OF BLOOD CULTURE ISOLATES IN TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN ISLAMABAD.

Objectives 1. To determine the etiological profile of suspected cases of bacteremia 2. To establish the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of bacterial isolates Materials and Methods: The retrospective study was carried out from January 2022 to December 2022 at Islamabad International Hospital. A total of 639 blood culture isolates were processed manually onto blood agar, chocolate agar, MacConkey’s agar, and bile-esculin agar and were identified on their morphological appearance using gram staining. Isolates were further identified at the species level using the Analytic Profile Index (API). Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using the Disk Diffusion method as per Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines (M-100 Version 2021) Results: Amongst 639 blood culture isolates, only 66 (10.32%) were culture-positive. Prevalent gram-negative bacilli included Salmonella typhi (n= 19) and Escherichia coli (n= 8) whilst Enterococcus (n=4), and Staphylococcus aureus (n=4) were the predominant gram-positive cocci. Salmonella typhi and S. aureus showed 100% resistance to ciprofloxacin whilst enterococcus displayed 75% resistance. Overall, all strains (n=6) of K. pneumoniae and 63% of E. coli showed resistance to over 4 antibiotics. Conclusion: Gram-negative bacteria were the main cause of BSIs, where the predominant microorganism was S. typhi. Remarkably all S. typhi isolates were completely resistant to ciprofloxacin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]