Abstract:
Objectives: Empirical selections of antimicrobial therapy based on clinical observations are common clinical prac
tices in Ethiopia. This study identified common external ocular infections and determined antibiotic susceptibility
testing in northwest Ethiopia.
Results: Among 210 patients studied, conjunctivitis 32.9%(69), blepharitis 26.7%(56), dacryocystitis 14.8%(51),
blepharoconjunctivitis 11.9%(25), and trauma 10.0%(21) were the most common external ocular infections. Patho
genic bacteria were isolated among 62.4%(131) cases. The distributions of bacteria detected in conjunctivitis, dacryo
cystitis, and blepharitis patients were 32.8%(43), 23.7%(31), and 16.0%(21), respectively. The most prevalent isolates
were coagulase negative Staphylococci; 27.5%(36), S. aureus; 26.7%(35), Pseudomonas species; 10.7%(14), and E. coli;
7.6%(10). Tetracycline, amoxicillin, chloramphenicol, ampicillin, and nalidic acid showed resistance to bacterial isolates
with a respective prevalence of 35.9%(47), 32.1%(42), 26.2%(34), 25.2%(33), and 23.7%(31). Multi-drug resistance pat
terns to the commonly prescribed antibiotics tested was 20.6%(27), 18.3%(24), 17.6%(23), 5.3%(7), and 4.6%(6) to two,
three, four, five, and six antibiotics, respectively. Overall, the multi-drug resistance prevalence rate was 66.4%(87). This
study confirmed diverse types of external ocular manifestations associated with bacterial infections with wide ranges
of antibiotic resistant phenotypes. Thus, combining clinical information, bacteriological analysis, and antimicrobial
susceptibility tests are useful for making an evidence-based selection of antibiotics therapy.
Keywords: Ocular infections, Antibiotic resistance, Ethiop
