Abstract

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic human pathogen and is the predominant causative agent in nosocomial infections. Resistance to nearly all the available antibiotics has been shown by P. aeruginosa, and multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa (MDRPA) is the most important source of concern in hospital-acquired infections.
Objective: To determine the prevalence of bacterial infection and the antibiotic sensitivity pattern of P. aeruginosa isolated from patients with lower respiratory tract infection.
Materials and Methods: This study comprised 270 patients (151 treated as inpatients and 119 as outpatients). Sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage samples were subjected to gram staining, bacterial culture, and antibiotic sensitivity for bacterial isolates as per standard techniques. Result: The growth of pathogens was obtained from 55.9% of inpatients and 44% of outpatients. P. aeruginosa (25.2%) was the major organism isolated from hospitalized patients, whereas Moraxella catarrhalis (6.93%) was the most common pathogen isolated from outpatients. Imipenem was found to be the most effective antibiotic against P. aeruginosa. Conclusion: These findings focused on careful consideration for monitoring of antimicrobial use in order to reduce the occurrence and spread of antimicrobial-resistant pathogen.