BACTERAEMIA AMONG SEVERELY MALNOURISHED CHILDREN IN JIMMA UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Sever acute malnutrition severely suppresses every component of the immune systemleading to increased susceptibility and severity to infection. However, symptoms and signs of infectionsare often unapparent making prompt clinical diagnosis and early treatment very difficult. The aim of thestudy was to determine the magnitude of bacteraemia and antimicrobial sensitivity among severelymalnourished children.METHODS: Severely malnourished children admitted in Jimma University Specialized Hospital wereenrolled between October, 2009 to May, 2010. Blood samples were collected, processed and bacterialisolates were identified using standard bacteriological procedures. Then, antibiotic susceptibility patternof the isolates was determined by using Kirby-Bauer technique.RESULTS: Bacteraemia was seen in 35 (20.6%) of the 170 study subjects. There were a total of 35bacterial isolates, Gram positive bacteria constitute 24(68.6%) of the isolates, where Staphylococcusaureus was the leading Gram positive isolate while Klebsiella species were the dominant Gram negativeisolates. Twelve (7.1%) children died and 4 (33.3%) of them had bacteraemia. While susceptibility wasmore than 80% to Gentamicin, Ciprofloxacin and Ceftriaxone, increased level of resistance wasdocumented to commonly used antibiotics, such as Amoxycillin, Co-trimoxazole and Chloramphenicol.CONCLUSION: High prevalence of bacteraemia with predominating Gram positive isolates andincreased level of resistance to commonly used antibiotics was shown among severely malnourishedchildren in Jimma. Further studies are required to revise the current guideline for antibiotic choice.