BACTERIOLOGICAL PROFILE AND ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY PATTERN OF ISOLATES FROM OCULAR INFECTIONS AMONG THE PATIENTS ATTENDING OPHTHALMOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL.

Abstract

Background: Ocular infections are one of the major causes of visual impairment around the world. Infections can either be due to single microbe or polymicrobial. it is essential to know the specic etiology of the infection for the effective management of ocular infections. This study aims to identify microbes responsible for common ocular infections and to determine its antibiotic susceptibility to commonly used antibiotics used in clinical practice. Clinical Methods: A hospital based cross sectional study included 290 patients attending the ophthalmology department of a tertiary care hospital. After a thorough clinical examination samples were taken and were subjected to Grams' stain, culture methods, biochemical tests for the identication of the microbe. Antibacterial susceptibility test was performed using Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method. Results: Among 290 patients, the common clinical conditions include conjunctivitis 108 (37.24%), keratitis 37 (12.76%), dacryocytitis 53 (18.28%), blepharitis 52 (17.93%), trauma 24 (8.28%), infective uveitis 10(3.45%) and endophthalmitis 6(2.07%). Among the total ocular infections 146(50.34%) were positive for culture. Among the total isolated, 110(75.34%) were Gram positive and 36(24. 66%) were Gram negative. The Gram positive bacteria isolated showed highest sensitivity to ciprooxacin (86.36%) followed by gentamycin (82.72%) and clindamycin (80%). The Gram negative bacteria showed high resistance to tetracycline 7(19.44%), followed by amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (30.56%). Conclusion: The most common ocular infection is conjunctivitis followed by dacryocystitis which is most commonly caused by Staphylococcus aureus, which showed high resistance to Amoxcillin, Tetracycline and Erythromycin. To prevent the emergence of antimicrobial resistance, it is necessary to perform antimicrobial susceptibility testing before initiating antibiotics in clinical practice.