Abstract :
Introduction: Septicaemia in neonates remains the significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the
developing countries. Enterococci species an opportunistic pathogen being normally present in G.I tract
of humans are gaining importance as a potential pathogen in neonatal septicaemia because of frequent
isolation and multidrug resistance which renders them difficult to treat.
Materials and Methods: A prospective study was conducted over a period of 3 months from April to June
2018. Blood samples from neonates were collected and processed by conventional methods. Swabs from
web spaces and nasal area of the NICU staff were also collected and processed. Antimicrobial susceptibility
testing was performed by Kirby Bauer’s disc diffusion method.
Results: Prevalence of Enterococci was found to be increasing from 26.8% in the month of April to
39.5% in the May. Screening of NICU staff for carrier state revealed 20% isolation rate of Enterococci
spp among 16 cases. Antibiotic susceptibility showed maximum resistance to Penicillin (90.6%) followed
by Amoxyclav (79.6%), Erythromycin (71.8%). High level Aminoglycoside resistance was observed in
(37.2%) isolates.
Conclusion: This study revealed that Enterococci was one of the predominant bacterial pathogen of
neonatal septicaemia during the study period and the bacteriological profile of neonatal sepsis keeps
changing. Routine screening for the multidrug resistant organisms in the hospital staff and appropriate
methods employed to avoid carriers and proper care of NICU to avoid cross infection would help in the
reduction of neonatal septicaemia.
Keyword :
Enterococci, Neonatal sepsis, Bacteriological profile, Screening, Multidrug resistance.