Bacteriology of chronic maxillary sinusitis at Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi.

OBJECTIVE To determine the bacteriology and antibiotic sensitivity of the bacterial isolates in chronic maxillary sinusitis patients seen at the Kenyatta National Hospital. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING Kenyatta National Hospital, ENT department. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Seventy-three patients had bilateral sntral washout done and the lavage submitted for culture and anti-microbial sensitivity between January and June 1996. RESULTS Antral lavage yielded secretions in 63% of patients but bacteria were cultured in only 28.8% of the specimens. The isolates included Streptococcus pneumonia (22.2%), Staphylocococus albus (18.5%), Staphylocococus aureus (11.1%) and Enterobactericiae (11.1%). Anaerobic bacteria were cultured in 22.2% of the specimens. Of the commonly used antibiotics, there was high sensitivity to erythromycin, cefadroxyl, chloramphenicol and amoxicillin and poor sensitivity to ampicillin, cotrimoxazole and perfloxacin. CONCLUSION The bacteriology of chronic maxillary sinusitis at Kenyatta National Hospital is generally similar to that found elsewhere. The bacteria are susceptible to relatively affordable antibiotics like amoxicillin, erythromycin and cefadroxyl.