In vitro Activities of 6 Antimicrobial Agents against Bacterial Isolates from Cases of Neonatal Meningitis in Kano, Nigeria

Abstract

Meningitis is inflammation of meninges, which affects all age groups from the newborn to elderly and occurs more commonly during the first. It is usually caused by viral, bacterial or fungal pathogens. The objective of the study was to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial isolates from cases neonatal meningitis at Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital (MMSH), Kano, Nigeria. Sixty neonates with suspected meningitis were enrolled of whom 10 were excluded due to contraindications to lumbar puncture (LP) or failed LP. Microscopy and culture were performed on all the fifty samples. The antibiotic susceptibility testing of the bacterial isolates from cases of neonatal meningitis to ampicillin (10µg), amoxycillin (25µg), ceftriaxone (30µg), ceftazidime (10µg), chlorampenicol (30µg) and gentamicin (10µg) was performed using the modified disc diffusion method (modified Kirby-Bauer technique). Bacteria were isolated in cerebrospinal of six neonates (12.0%), of which three isolates were Streptococcus pneumoniae, and the other 3 isolates were Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter. All isolated bacteria were resistant to ampicillin, amoxycillin, chlorampenicol and gentamicin but were sensitive to ceftriaxone and ceftazidime except for one Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolate which was resistant to ceftriaxone. It is recommended that neonates in Kano and its environment presenting with specific signs/symptoms of bacterial meningitis should be empirically treated with cephalosporins as first line therapy as confirmatory bacteriological tests are undertaken.