Bacteriological Study Among Influenza-like Illness Cases in a Community Setting in Pune, India

Influenza-like illness (ILI) and acute respiratory infection (ARI) are common presentations during winter, and indiscriminate antibiotic use contributes significantly to the emerging post-antibiotic era. Although viral agents causing ILI are predominant, they are indistinguishable from the bacterial agents based on the clinical features alone. The present study was aimed at determining the bacterial agents associated with ILI and their susceptibility pattern during a study done in a community setting in Pune during a surveillance of ILI between March 2013 to November 2016. Throat swabs from 512 suspected ILI cases were processed, and organisms were identified by the standard conventional method. An antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done as per the Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) guidelines. The patients comprised 238 males and 274 females with the majority (38.7%) in the age group of ≤10 years. Bacteria could be isolated from 9.8 % of the patients. The predominant bacteria included beta-hemolytic Streptococcus (42%) followed by group G Streptococcus (30%) and group A Streptococcus (20%). All organisms were sensitive to Penicillin except two isolates of Staphylococcus aureus (50%). Tetracycline (98.8%) and ciprofloxacin (87%) were the next most effective drugs. Overall resistance was observed for erythromycin (37%) and co-trimoxazole (32%).