Studies on the Antibiotics Susceptibility of Bacteria Isolated from Neonatal Septicaemia in the Presence of Zinc and Iron

Abstract

Septicemia remains a dreadful condition in infants and is associated with pyrexia which can be life threatening in Neonates. This study  was done in Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara ,Nigeria. This study was a prospective design that seeks to determine  bacterial involvement in bloodstream infections and their antibiotic susceptibility profile in the presence of elements Zinc and Iron salts in Neonates. Inborn and outborn Neonates were used in this study. Specimens were collected from three hundred babies between  February and October, 2016. One milliliter of blood was aseptically inoculated into each blood culture bottle of brain heart infusion broth  and thioglycollate broth, incubated aerobically 0 for seven days. They were subculture on Chocolate, Blood and MacConkey agar and  incubated at 37 C for 24 hours Bacteria isolated were identified to species level using the protocol of Cowan and Steel manual. Antibiotic  Susceptibility Testing (AST) was done using dilution method described by Fleming. Mueller Hinton broth (MHB) was used as the diluents.  Suspension of the isolates that matched 0.5 McFarland Standard were used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)  and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) in the presence of Zinc and Iron salts. In our study, 60 (20%) of the new born babies  yielded bacteria giving rise to prevalence rate of 15% of neonatal septicemia. Males 38 (21.1%), females 22 (18.3%), inborn babies 20  (16.7%) and outborn accounted for 40 (22.2%). Preterm were 36 (46.2%), term babies were 18 (8.6%) and post term babies were 6 (50.05).  Early and late onset sepsis were 30 (17.3%) and 24 (26.1%) respectively. Klebsiella pneumoniae was the commonest isolates 16 (26.7%).  Floroquinolones exhibited the highest antimicrobial activity, while Zinc salt improved antibacterial activity of some drugs more, than Iron  salt but a combibation of the two gave better results invivtro.