Incidence of Salmonella bacteraemia and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella in paediatric patients in Kumasi

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Date
September 2007
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Salmonella bloodstream infection, especially due to non-typhoidal strains, is a potential health problem for Ghanaian children and may be complicated by resistance to commonly available antibiotics. This study was undertaken to establish the incidence of Salmonella bacteraemia and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella isolates obtained from paediatric patients presenting at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) from January to December, 2005. Blood specimens were taken from children below the age of twelve years with suspected bacteraemia. The blood was inoculated in Brain Heart Infusion broth and cultured on Blood and MacConkey agar. The bacterial isolates were identified by the Standard Manual Method and the Analytical Profile Index (API) machine. Susceptibility testing was also done. Out of the 372 bacteriologically confirmed Salmonella bacteraemia cases, 79.6% (296/372) were in children up to 12 years of age. Of the 296 Salmonella isolates, 87.2% (258) were Salmonella spp and 12.8% (38) were Salmonella typhi. From above, the incidence of Salmonella typhi was 1% (38/3908) and Salmonella spp 6.6% (258/3908). Bacteraemia due to Salmonella spp was highest in children between the ages of 0-3 years (88.5%) followed by 4-7 years (9.1%) with children between 8-12 years having the lowest (2.4%). The antibiotic sensitivity patterns for both Salmonella spp and Salmonella typhi showed that the least sensitivity was towards cotrimoxazole, ampicillin and chloramphenicol. Salmonella spp had sensitivities of 20.7%, 12.2% and 22% whilst Salmonella typhi had sensitivities of 2.7%, 7.6% and 16.9% towards cotrimoxazole, ampicillin and chloramphenicol respectively. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC90) for ampicillin (0.156 – 2560ug/ml), chloramphenicol (2.5 – 2560ug/ml) and ciprofloxacin (0.0195 – 40ug/ml) for Salmonella spp isolates were >2560ug/ml, >2560ug/ml and 0.078 ug/ml respectively. Salmonella typhi isolates had MIC90’s of >2560ug/ml, >2560ug/ml and 0.156ug/ml to ampicillin (0.063 – 2560ug/ml), chloramphenicol (0.063 – 2560ug/ml) and ciprofloxacin (0.039 – 40ug/ml). The investigation undertaken established the current incidence in Kumasi to be 7.6% (296/3908). It also suggested an increasing resistance to antibiotics commonly used.There is therefore the need to do regular screening of antibiotic sensitivities and periodic MIC check on important pathogens.
Description
A Thesis submitted to the Department of Clinical Microbiology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master Of Philosophy,
Keywords
Citation