Microbial species isolation and antimicrobial resistance patterns of burn wounds infections in a tertiary care hospital.

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial resistance is a focus of global interest in the treatment of wound infections. The growing antimicrobial resistance, particularly in burn wound infections, poses a serious challenge, highlighting the need to understand pathogen distribution and drug susceptibility patterns. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify the pathogens responsible for burn wound infections and determine their drug susceptibility pattern. This study was conducted from September 2018 to January 2020 and included 163 patients. RESULT: A total of 164 microorganisms were isolated from 129 burn wounds, yielding an isolation rate of 78.65%. A solitary agent was isolated in 80 (62.02%), whereas a mixed infection was detected in 49 (37.98%) patients. The most common microorganisms detected were Gram-negative bacteria (102 isolates, 62.19%), with P. aeruginosa being the most prevalent (39.21%). Gram-positive bacteria were detected in 55 patients (33.53%), with S. aureus being the most common (69.06%), while Candida spp were found in 4.26% of patients. For Gram-positive microorganisms, the highest resistance was reported against ampicillin (100%), followed by tetracycline (74.27%) and Imipenem (72.72%), and the highest susceptibility was reported against vancomycin and linezolid (98.19%). Gram-negative isolates showed resistance in 83.48% to ampicillin, followed by 76.14% to ceftriaxone and 72.47% to chloramphenicol, and showed the least resistance against colistin (8.25%). Multiple microorganisms exhibited a multidrug resistance (MDR) profile (79.61%). The overall MDR rate of gram-negative and gram-positive isolates were 80.40% and 78.19%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The findings provide valuable insight into the prevalence of microorganisms in burn wounds and suggest that antibiotic resistance patterns can be useful in guiding the development of effective treatment strategies.