A profile of wound infections in National Hospital Abuja

Abstract

Background: Wound Infections cause prolonged hospital stay, increased costs and also can result in increased patient morbidity and mortality.
The current spread of multi -drug resistant bacteria has further heightened the need for regular bacteriological review of infected wounds and regular antibiotics surveillance studies so as to avoid the unguided empirical treatment of wound infections which is quite common in this environment
Aim: To determine the distribution of the isolates from wound specimens submitted to the medical microbiology laboratory of National Hospital Abuja for processing.
Method: A review and analysis of 380 woundspecimens results from various wards in the hospital over a period of 10 months (1^st Marto Dec 31^st 2010) was conducted.
Result: A total of 314 isolates were recovered from the 380 wound specimens giving a yield of 83%. 240(76%) yielded single isolates of various pathogens, while 74(24%) were poly-microbial. Gram negative bacilli constituted 66% of all the pathogens with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (19%) and Proteus species (18%) as the most frequent, while gram positive isolates made up 33% with S aureus (27%) as most predominant and most frequently isolated bacteria from all the wound specimens. Two candida species comprised about 1% of the isolates. Frequency of infection was highest in surgical wards (27%), gynaecology ward (14%) and accident and emergency unit (12%). The fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, and Beta-lactam antibiotics were the most effective drugs for most of the isolates. Staphylococcus aureus was most sensitive to amikacin (83%) and erythromycin (79%); Pseudomonas aeruginosa to imipenem (96%) and amikacin (83%) and Proteus species to amikacin (100%) and imipenem (78%).
Conclusion: S aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus species were the predominant bacteria from wounds, with surgery and gynaecology wards having the highest prevalence. Resistance to commonly used antibiotics is high. There is need to institute antibiotic stewardship and effective and efficient infection control measures in the hospital

Keywords: Wound infections, National Hospital , Abuja