Bacteriological Profile of Pyoderma Cases Attending the Dermatology Department in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Pyoderma, a commonly found skin disease among the general population in developing countries, is a challenge to the dermatologists due to its changing spectrum and antibiotic susceptibility pattern. Aim: To know the prevalence of different types of pyoderma, causative organisms, their antibiotic susceptibility with special reference to prevalence of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Materials and Methods: It was a prospective cross-sectional study which includes 402 clinically diagnosed cases of pyoderma who presented to the Department of Dermatology (both outdoor and indoor) from 15th May 2019-15th December 2019. Detailed history was taken and thorough clinical examination was done. Relevant investigations including bacterial culture and sensitivity were done. Descriptive statistics for both clinical and bacteriological characteristics were generated. Statistical comparison of categorical variables was undertaken using Chi-square test and a p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of pyoderma was 2.9%. Most of the pyoderma was observed in the 11-30 years of age group. Primary pyoderma (78.9%) was more common than secondary pyoderma, furuncle (45.1%) being the most common among primary pyodermas and infected eczema (43.5%) among secondary pyodermas. Staphylococcus aureus was the predominant organism isolated in 229 cases (out of 385 isolates, 59.5%). All the Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated were sensitive to vancomycin, 96.9% were sensitive to linezolid. Conclusion:Staphylococcus aureus was the primary pathogen causing pyodermas in this study. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the organisms isolated must be taken into account before starting therapeutic treatment.