Bacteriological profiles and antibiotic susceptibility of neonatal sepsis in a university hospital of Northern India

CONTEXT: Knowledge of epidemiology of bacterial isolates and their anti-biograms in hospital settings is necessary for prompt empirical anti-microbial therapy of neonatal sepsis. AIMS: To study risk factors, bacteriological profiles, and anti-biograms of blood culture isolates of both early and late onset neonatal sepsis. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: It is a prospective observational study conducted from January 2020 till July 2021 at our tertiary care center. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Neonates (0–28 days) admitted to this neonatal intensive care unit clinically suspected with sepsis were subjected to blood cultures, and the isolates were identified both biochemically and by the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry system. Antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) was performed as per CLSI guidelines. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Chi-square test was used. RESULTS: Out of 280 suspected cases of neonatal sepsis, 43 (15.3%) cases showed positive blood culture. Of these, the majority (30, 69.8%) had late-onset neonatal sepsis. Major pre-disposing risk factors were pre-term birth and a low birth weight (26, 60.5%). Gram-negative bacteria and Gram-positive bacteria were isolated in 25 (58.1%) and 18 (41.9%) blood cultures, respectively. Klebsiella pneumoniae (37.5%) was the most predominant pathogen in both early-onset (23.1%) and late-onset (46.7%) sepsis. Coagulase negative Staphylococcus (34.8%) was the second most common organism and was more common in late onset (23.2%) neonatal sepsis. A high level of antibiotic resistance was noted in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates, even to amikacin (76.5%) and carbapenems (66.7%). CONCLUSION: Increased resistance in bacterial isolates of neonatal sepsis emphasizes the need of AST of bacterial isolates for proper antibiotic administration.