Prevalence & antibiotic susceptibility patterns Of pathogens obtained from the lower respiratory tract Of patients from NIDCH Dhaka-Bangladesh

Abstract

Lower Respiratory Tract Infections (LRTIs) are very common and the usual way to treat them is by using antibiotics. Recently, treatment has become more complicated since most of the pathogens that cause these infections have become resistant to many antibiotics. This study aimed at examining the antimicrobial activity of commonly used antibiotics against pathogens from the Lower Respiratory Tract and establishing the susceptibility and prevalence patterns of the pathogens. Out of 57 samples, 28 were Klebsiella pneumoniae, 25 were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and 4 were Escherichia coli. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were done using Kirby – Bauer method, using 8 different antibiotics. The highest resistance was observed against cefixime (96.49 %), followed by cefepime (87.72 %). All E. coli isolates were considered multi-drug resistant. For K. pneumoniae, 96.43% of the isolates, for P. aeruginosa, 96% of the isolates were multi-drug resistant. Findings from this study confirm the dangers posed by antimicrobial-resistant bacteria on human health and also the urgent need to combat the problem of antimicrobial resistance.