Bacteremia among Jordanian children at Princess Rahmah Hospital: Pathogens and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns

OBJECTIVE: To investigate microorganisms causing bacteremia in Jordanian children and to assess their sensitivity to various groups of antimicrobials. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on positive blood cultures taken from 378 children aged below 15 year, who sought medical attention at Princess Rahmah Hospital between January and December/2008. RESULTS: Out of 4475 tested blood samples, 378 isolates were recovered from blood cultures. The male to female isolate ratio was (1.26:1.0). The most frequent pathogen found was Staphylococcus aureus (86.2%), followed by Klebsiella spp. (9%), Escherichia coli (1.9%), Streptococcus spp. (1.9%), Pseudomonas spp. (0.8%), and Acinetobacter sp. was found in only one culture (0.3%). The susceptibility rate of S. aureus was recorded the highest (99.6%) for vancomycin, and the lowest susceptibility rate (3.2%) was recorded for aztreonam. CONCLUSIONS: Staphylococcus aureus was the main isolate in bacteremic children, with all isolates demonstrating susceptibility to vancomycin. Overall, aztreonam resistance was near 97%, and this rate was not affected by sex and blood isolate type. This information should be considered when empirical therapy is recommended or prescribed for children with bacteremia.