Etiological and antimicrobial susceptibility profile of nosocomial blood stream infections in neonatal intensive care unit.

Nosocomial infections result in considerable morbidity and mortality among neonates, especially in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Previous studies have found an incidence of nosocomial blood stream infection (NBSI) in NICUs ranging from 5.2 to 30.4%.1 The present study was carried out to investigate the etiology of NBSI in NICU and anti-microbial resistance (AMR) of causative organisms. Given the paucity of data from northern India on the proÞ le of bacterial and yeast isolates and prevailing patterns of susceptibility to anti-fungals we speciated 77 (53.8%) yeasts and 51 (35.7%) bacterial isolates obtained between January 2004 and March 2005 from blood culture of neonates and estimated susceptibility to antibacterial and anti-fungal drugs. The case inclusion criteria were; hospitalisation in NICU for seven days, intravenous catheter in place and development of clinical sepsis. Exclusion criteria were; >40 days old, presence of superÞ cial candidiasis and blood culture positive for Candida at the time of admission. Any bacterial or Candida isolate was identiÞ ed by its colony characteristics, Gram staining, germ tube test, biochemical tests and sugar assimilation and fermentation tests.2-3 Antibacterial and anti-fungal susceptibility was performed as per National Committee for Clinical Laboratory (NCCLS) recommendations4 and disk diffusion method.5