Bacterial profile and drug susceptibility among adult patients with community acquired lower respiratory tract infection at tertiary hospital, Southern Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Lower respiratory tract infection is a global problem accounting over 50 million deaths annually. Here, we determined the bacterial profile and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of lower respiratory tract infections among adult patients attending at Tertiary Hospital, Southern Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted among adult patients with lower respiratory infection at the medical outpatient department of the Hospital. A sputum sample was collected and processed for bacterial culture and antimicrobial susceptibility test. Semi structured questionnaires were used to collect data. SPSS version 22 software was used for statistical analysis and a p value of < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: Out of 406 sputum samples of participants 136(33.5%) were culture positive for 142 bacterial isolates. Klebsiella pneumoniae 36(25.4%) was the predominant isolate followed by Pseudomonas species 25(17.6%). Gram-negative bacteria were sensitive to cefepime (86.0%) and ciprofloxacin (77.8%) antibiotics while gram-positive (76.5%) to clindamycin. CONCLUSION: Community acquired lower respiratory tract Infection was highly prevalent in the study area and the isolates showed resistant to common antibiotics such as ampicillin, augmentin, ceftazidime and tetracycline. Therefore, culture and susceptibility test is vital for appropriate management of lower respiratory tract infection in the study area. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12879-021-06151-2.