Antibacterial Sensitivity in Sputum among Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third common cause of death worldwide and low- and middle- income countries (LMICs) suffers 90.0% of these deaths. Natural history of COPD is characterized by many exacerbations, 50.0% of these are caused by bacteria from lower respiratory tract. Bacterial flora of acute exacerbation of COPD keeps changing from time to time and choice of antibiotic depends upon the local bacterial prevalence and resistance. Very limited data about bacteriological profile in AECOPD patients are available in Bangladesh. This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at Department of Respiratory medicine and Department of Medicine, Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh from August 2023 to January 2024 with the approval of Institutional Review Board. Sample size was 68. Bacteria were identified from sputum of 56 patients (82.4%), 44 of them are culture positive (64.7%). Gram Negative bacteria are more common (86.4%), Klebsiella is most prevalent (59.1%). Irrespective of Gram staining, most patients are sensitive to Carbapenems, Colistin, Erythromycin, Azithromycin, Linezolid and ampicillin (100.0%). Most bacteria are fully sensitive (100.0%) to carbapenems except Proteus and Acinetobacter. Klebsiella is also sensitive to Gentamycin (92.3%), Amikacin (86.4%), Ceftriaxone (76.9%) and Ciprofloxacin (61.5%)%). In case Pseudomonas Ciprofloxacin (100%), Amikacin, Gentamycin, Levofloxacin & Pip-Taz (66.7%) shows significant sensitivity. While Streptococcus shows 100% sensitivity to Amikacin, Gentamycin & Ciprofloxacin.