Prevalence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, multidrug resistant and extended spectrum β-lactamase producing gram negative bacilli causing wound infections at a tertiary care hospital of Nepal

BACKGROUND: Treatment and prevention of wound infection continues to be a challenging issue in clinical settings of Nepal especially in the context of globally growing problem of antimicrobial resistance. Study on opportunistic pathogens and sensitivity to commonly prescribed local antimicrobial agents are cardinal to reduce the disease burden of wound infections. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing bacteria from wound infections of patients at a tertiary care hospital in Nepal. METHODS: Pus specimens were processed using standard microbiological procedures. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed following the modified Kirby Bauer disc diffusion technique. Clinical information of patients was obtained from preformed questionnaire and hospital record. RESULTS: One hundred eighty two pus specimens from wounds of different body parts: leg, hand, backside, abdominal part, foot, breast and chest, head and neck region were collected and analyzed; 113 bacterial isolates were isolated showing the overall bacterial growth rate of 62%, where the highest rate was among patients of ≤10 years age group (82.1%). A higher rate (68.5%) of bacterial isolates were from inpatients (p < 0.05). Among 116 bacterial isolates, Staphylococcus aureus was the most predominant bacteria (56.9%) followed by Escherichia coli (8.6%), coagulase negative staphylococci (7.8%), Acinetobacter spp. (5.2%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (5.2%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (4.3%), Enterococcus spp. (4.3%), Citrobacter freundii (2.6%), Proteus vulgaris (1.6%) and P. mirabilis (0.9%). Both Gram positive (73.3%) and negative (78.8%) isolates showed high frequency of sensitive to gentamycin. CONCLUSION: Among S. aureus isolates, 60.6% were MRSA strains, whereas 40% of K. pneumoniae and 33.3% of C. freundii were ESBL producing bacteria followed by E. coli (25%). It is thus paramount to address the burden of silently and speedily increasing infections caused by drug resistant strains of MRSA and ESBL in Nepal. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13756-018-0408-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.