The isolation rate of Staphylococcus and Streptococcus pathogenic isolates and their antimicrobial responses in Northwest Ethiopia, August 2004 to July 2006

Abstract

Staphylococcus and Streptococcus isolates are among the major pathogens causing different diseases in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of isolation and sensitivity pattern of Staphylococcus and Streptococcus against the commonly used antibiotics. A retrospective study was carried out in this investigation. A total of 51 (1.85 %) Streptococcus isolates and 217 Staphylococcus (7.03 %) isolates were recorded from 3829 different samples of patients at Gondar University Teaching Hospital. Nineteen (36.5%) of the Streptococcus strains were detected from CSF specimens and the rest were from different specimens. Out of the 217 S. aureus isolates, 10 (4.61 %) and 9 (4.15 %) were from urine and pus specimens, respectively. The remaining 198 (91.24 %) S. aureus strains were isolated from miscellaneous other clinical sources in different wards. In this study, all the isolates of S. aureus were resistant to less expensive, commonly available antibiotics, such as tetracycline (65.3%) and ampicillin (62.2%). On the other hand, S. aureus isolates were less resistant to gentamycin (12.9%), ciprofloxacin (13.5%), erythromycin (24.7%), chloramphenicol (28.8%) and trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole (36.5%). Thus these antibiotics may be used as drugs of choice for empirical treatments of infections with the investigated bacteria. High rate of isolation of Staphylococci and Streptococci from the investigated specimens may indicate poor hospital and/or personal hygiene and environmental sanitation depending on the source. Thus, constant cleaning of the body with soap and water and improving sanitation of the environment can help to reduce the microbial load in the susceptible part of the body and the patient’s environment.

Keywords/phrases: Antimicrobial susceptibility, Frequency of isolation, Pathogens, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus

Ethiop. J. Biol. Sci., 8(1): 1-14, 2009