Abstract:
Background. Pneumonia is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries, mostly caused by
different species of bacterial pathogens. Hence, patient management needs awareness of the pathogens and antimicrobial
susceptibility testing (AST). *is study was aimed to assess the type of bacterial isolates and their antimicrobial susceptibility
patterns among pneumonia suspected patients at Dessie Referral Hospital, Northeast Ethiopia. Potential risk factors were also
assessed to apply preventive measures accordingly. Materials and Methods. A cross-sectional study design was employed among
pneumonia suspected patients from February to April 2020 at Dessie Referral Hospital. Sociodemographic characteristics and
associated risk factors were collected using a pretested questionnaire, and clinical data were extracted by reviewing medical
records. Sputum specimens were collected and inoculated into chocolate agar, blood agar, mannitol salt agar, and MacConkey
agar which are then incubated at 35°C or 37°C for 24–48 hours. Bacterial species were identified based on Gram stain, colony
characteristics, and biochemical techniques. *e data were entered in to Epi-Info version 7.1.5 and analyzed with SPSS software
version 20. p value <0.05 at 95% CI was considered as statistically significant. Results. A total of 406 sputum specimens were
collected and cultured, among which 157 (38.7%) were positive for different bacterial pathogens. *e predominant pathogens
were Klebsiella pneumoniae (28.0%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (24.8%), Staphylococcus aureus (18.5%), and Pseudomonas
aeruginosa (14.0%). Majority of the isolates exhibited resistance to ampicillin with 81.5% followed by penicillin with 75.9% and
amoxicillin-clavulanate with 61.2%. Multivariable logistic regression showed a significant association of culture positivity with
older age (AOR � 2.43, CI: 1.12–5.28, p value � 0.025), cigarette smoking (AOR � 4.67, CI: 2.39–9.20, p value<0.001), and alcohol
use (AOR � 5.58, CI: 3.14–9.92, p value<0.001). Resistance to ampicillin and penicillin was associated with repeated prescription
and use. Conclusions. *is study found high prevalence of bacterial pneumonia in the study area, and high rate of bacterial
resistance was observed in ampicillin, penicillin, and amoxicillin-clavulanate. Repeated prescriptions and use of antimicrobials
were significantly independent factors of bacterial resistance. *erefore, patient management needs identification of bacteria by
routine culture with antimicrobial susceptibility testing.
