Assessment of Bacterial Profile and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern of Bacterial Isolates from Blood Culture in Tertiary Level Paediatric Hospital of Nepal

Introduction: Bloodstream infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality which requires antibiotic treatment. Antimicrobial resistance is an emerging serious public health threat in both developed and developing countries. Children are more susceptible to infections requiring an appropriate choice of antibiotic based on blood culture. This study aims to investigate the bacteriological profile and antibiotic sensitivity pattern of blood culture isolates and compare the yield of bacterial growth between Brain Heart Infusion Broth (BHIB) or BD BACTEC culture media. Methods: A total of 12,795 blood samples were sent for bacteriological culture either for BHIB or BACTEC techniques, 10994 and 1801 samples respectively. Chi-square test was used for showing association between BACTEC and BHIB among isolates. Results: The findings showed that the BACTEC method detected more positive isolates than the BHIB method. The rate of isolation was found highest among children under five years. The most common pathogens isolated were Staphylococcus species (28.1%), Staphylococcus aureus (25.6%), Acinetobacter species (12%), Pseudomonas species (8.2%), Klebsiella species (6.6%), CONS (4.4%), Escherichia coli (4.4%), Salmonella Typhi (3.5%), Enterobacter species (3.2%) and Streptococcus species (0.3%). Conclusions: Staphylococcus aureus was the commonest isolate identified in the current study. BACTEC culture method detected the higher percentage of isolates than BHIB method.