Background: Septicemia plays an important role in neonatal morbidity and mortality, especially in developing countries.
Objective: To investigate the bacterial pathogens causing neonatal sepsis and their antibiotic susceptibility profile.
Methodology: A total of 2,685 neonates aged 0-28 days were included in the study. Blood from each neonate was cultured and isolates were identified using standard biochemical tests. Antibiotic sensitivity pattern was analyzed using modified Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method.
Results: Blood culture positivity was observed in 1,534 (57.1%) samples. Most of the cases (1089 counts - 71%) were of early onset sepsis while 445 (29%) were of late onset sepsis. The incidence of sepsis was higher in males 856 (55.8%) than females 678 (44.2%) with a 1:2 ratio. Similarly, 58.3% of septicemic patients were neonates with low birth weights. Twelve hundred and six (78.6%) isolates were gram negative while 328 (23.4%) were gram positive bacteria. E. coli was the dominant pathogen seen in 811 (52.8%) followed by Staphylococcus aureus 300 (19.5%), Pseudomonas 199 (13%), Klebsiella 102 (6.7%), Proteus 87 (5.7%), Staphylococcus epidermidis 28(1.8%) and Salmonella in 7 (0.5%) samples. All bacterial isolates showed high sensitivity to Imipenem, Enoxacin, Ofloxacin and Ciprofloxacin while low sensitivity was observed for other antibiotics (n = 16). The Proteus species showed high level of multiple resistances to all antibiotics (5.9%).
Conclusion: Imipenem, Enoxacin, Ofloxacin and Ciprofloxacin can be used as an effective antibiotic regimen for treatment of bacterial sepsis in neonates.