Bacterial Isolates and Their Antimicrobial Susceptibility Patterns of Wound Infections among Inpatients and Outpatients Attending the University of Gondar Referral Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia

Background. The widespread uses of antibiotics, together with the length of time over which they have been available, have led to the emergence of resistant bacterial pathogens contributing to morbidity and mortality. This study was aimed to assess bacterial isolates and their drug susceptibility patterns from inpatients and outpatients with pus and/or wound discharge. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted at the University of Gondar Referral Hospital from March to May, 2014. Wound swab samples were collected from each study participant and inoculated into appropriate media. The bacterial pathogens were identified using standard microbiological methods. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed using disk diffusion technique following Kirby-Bauer method. Results. A total of 137 study subjects were included in the study with bacterial isolation rate of 115 (83.9%). Of all, 81 (59.1%) were males. Seventy-seven (57%) of the isolates were Gram-negative and 59 (43%) were Gram-positive. From the total isolates, Staphylococcus aureus was the most predominant isolate 39/115 (34%) followed by Klebsiella species (13%), coagulase negative staphylococci spp. (12%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Gram-positive isolates were resistant to ampicillin (86.4%), amoxicillin (83%), penicillin (81.3%), oxacillin (74.6%), and tetracycline (59.4%), while Gram-negative isolates were resistant to amoxicillin (97.4%), ampicillin (94.8%), tetracycline (72.7%), trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (66%), and chloramphenicol (54.5%). Conclusion. High prevalence of bacterial isolates was found, Staphylococcus aureus being the most dominant. High rates of multiple drug resistance pathogens to the commonly used antimicrobial agents were isolated. Therefore, concerned bodies should properly monitor the choice of antibiotics to be used as prophylaxis and empiric treatment in the study area.