Bacteriological profile and antimicrobial resistance patterns of burn wound infections in a tertiary care hospital

The bacterial infections that prevail in the burnt patients continue to be a critical complication in the burnt patients and vary with time and place. Identification of bacterial pathogens with information of their antimicrobial susceptibility of burn wounds can help clinicians to select appropriate medication procedure as in providing them with suitable antibiotic for empirical treatment.

Retrospective study of thirty-one months (Jan 2015 to July 2017) was designed to evaluate bacteria involved in burnt wound infection and its antimicrobial susceptibilities in a Burn Intensive Care Unit of Eastern India. Pus samples were cultured on cysteine Lactose electrolyte deficient agar (Hi-Media, India). Positive bacteria cultures were identified and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using VITEK®2 (bioMerieux, Durham, NC, USA) and interpreted according to Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines.

Two hundred and seventy-two wound swabs from burnt patients were received, out of which 62.8% (n = 185) were revealed as positive for the presence of bacteria. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii and E. coli were discovered to be the most common organisms in patients. Isolated bacteria were least resistant to TIGECYCLINE and COLISTIN.

Data regarding the incidence of pathogens and their resistance patterns would benefit the clinicians to prescribe appropriate antibiotics, articulating policies for empirical antimicrobial therapy to control the different types of infections.