Abstract:
Background: The bacteria most likely to cause bacteremia include Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Enterococcus, Escherichia, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Haemophilus, and
Neisseria genera. Bloodstream infections remain one of the most important causes of morbidity
and mortality throughout the world. Drug-resistant pathogens are becoming the most challenging
problem and they have different economic and social impacts around the world.
Objective: To study the bacterial profile and antibiotic susceptibility among bacteremiasuspected patients in the University of Gondar Teaching Hospital from September 2003 to
February 2013.
Materials and method: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted from March
to May 2013 at the University of Gondar. Data were collected and extracted manually from the
microbiology registration books of the hospital laboratory using checklists and were checked
for its completeness and consistency.
Result: Among a total of 856 blood samples analyzed, 169 (19.7%) cases were bacteremia confirmed. From the confirmed cases, 98 (58%) were male and 71 (42%) female. Culture positivity
rate was highest (44%) in the age group of ≤28 days followed by the age group of 29 days–5 years.
Conclusion: In our study, coagulase-negative staphylococci were the most common causative
agent for bacteremia among the Gram-positive isolates. The overall antimicrobial susceptibility
pattern of the Gram-positive isolates was an intermediate level of resistance (60%–80%), but
Gram-negative bacteria showed a high level of resistance (>80%) against ampicillin and amoxicillin.
Keywords: bacteremia, drug susceptibility, sepsis, resistan
