Original article
English
M. A. Elyousfi, A. Ramadan, N. Tbeny, N. Alalwany, R. Almagerhy
Department of Laboratories, Faculty of Medical Technology, Elfateh University, Tripoli, Libya
JMJ Vol.3 No.2 (September) 2004: 82-85
Abstract
Background: Within hospitals, surgery and medical services have the highest rate of nosocomial infections. Staphylococcus aureus is the most common cause of infection following surgery. The appearance of antibiotic resistance in bacteria, which is now common in most human pathogens, occurred from the beginning of the antibiotic era. Objectives: This study was performed to: 1- Isolates and identifies bacterial isolates, and their sources in the surgical department, including the surgical rooms, intensive Care Units (ICUs), and out patients’ clinics (children, men, and women) at Tripoli Medical Centre (TMC), Tripoli-Libya. 2- Assess their susceptibility to different antibiotics. The present study was conducted between January 1999 and February 2004 during 16 interval visits to such places. Materials and Methods: 279 samples were taken from the surgical department, surgical rooms, and intensive care units and out patient clinics and examined using standard bacteriological procedures. Results: 16 bacterial isolates were identified, mostly gram negative aerobic, and facultative anaerobic bacilli and all, were considered to be clinically significant as a cause of serious nosocomial infections. After being identified, all bacterial isolates, were tested for susceptibility to different antimicrobial agents by disc diffusion technique. Several bacterial isolates were resistant to more than one antibiotic tested. Multiple antibiotic resistances, which were noticed in our study, have profound implications on the treatment of hospitalized patients. The most frequent bacterial isolates were Staphylococcus epidermidis (37.3%), S. aureus (16.8%), Acientobacter species (14%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5.0%). The most frequent contaminated samples were those taken from the suction machine, bed linen, and water sinks. Conclusion: This study shows that the number of bacterial isolates from the surgical department, rooms, intensive care units, and out patients’ clinics was high. Thus, such places should be disinfected periodically. Alternative drugs must be considered for proper medication, and a restrictive policy on their proper use is important to prevent the spread of antibiotic resistance within (TMC).
Keywords: Surgery department, surgery, surgical wound infections, nosocomial infection, antibiotic, antibiotic resistance, gram-negative bacteria, S. aureus, S. epidermidis
Link/DOI: http://www.jmj.org.ly/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1335