Neonatal Sepsis: Bacteriological Profile and Antibiotic Sensitivity Pattern in Nepal Medical College

Neonatal sepsis is one of the important causes of mortality in the newborn. If treated early with the appropriate antibiotics it is possible to prevent most of the neonatal deaths due to sepsis. This study was conducted in the neonatal intensive care unit, Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal over a period of 2 years from April 2012 to March 2014.This was a prospective study conducted to determine the prevalence of neonatal sepsis, identify the bacterial isolates and their antimicrobial sensitivity pattern among the newborns admitted for suspected neonatal sepsis. Out of 285 cases of suspected neonatal sepsis, blood culture was positive in 26.0% (75/285). The most common causative organism was Staphylococcus aureus 36.0% (27/75), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae 24.0% (18/75) and Acinetobacter spp 14.6% (11/75). Most of the organisms showed good sensitivity to quinolones and aminoglycosides and high degree of resistance to most penicillins. There is an increasing trend of antibiotic resistance to the commonly used first line drugs. Continuous surveillance for antibiotic susceptibility is needed to ensure proper empirical therapy.