Microbiological Profile of Infections in a Tertiary Care Burns Unit.

BACKGROUND

The burden of infections among burns patients is higher in healthcare settings due to partial or complete loss of skin as a physical barrier among these patients. We intend to present microbiological profile of patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital in South India.

AIM: To describe microbiological profile of infections and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of clinical isolates from burns patients in our tertiary care hospital.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

This retrospective analysis was done on consecutive patients admitted with burns over a period of three years at Apollo Specialty Hospitals, a tertiary care facility in Vanagaram, Chennai. Data analysis included clinical isolates from blood, urine, tissue, pus and tracheal aspirate. Types of bloodstream infections, urosepsis and antibiogram are described.

RESULTS

Among 219 clinical isolates from various samples, 75% were gram-negative, 19% gram-positive and 6% were yeast like fungi. Among bloodstream infections, 32% were polymicrobial. Urosepsis was observed in 39% patients. Wound infections with sepsis was seen in 39% patients. Gram-negative isolates showed better susceptibility to amikacin, carbapenems, beta lactam - beta lactamase inhibitor combinations. Gram-positive isolates had better susceptibility to macrolides, doxycycline, glycopeptides.

CONCLUSION

The high prevalence of gram-negative, polymicrobial infections and multidrug resistant bacteria noted in our patients and the sensitivity patterns would help with appropriate decision on initial antibiotic therapy. However escalation and de-escalation of antibiotics should be planned based on culture reports.

HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Ebenezer R, Princess I, Vadala R, Kumar S, Ramakrishnan N, Krishnan G. Microbiological Profile of Infections in a Tertiary Care Burns Unit. Indian J Crit Care Med 2019;23(9):405-410.