Introduction: Nearly one-third of neonatal mortality in India is due to neonatal sepsis and death occurs in 30% of culture-positive neonates. Pathogens such as
Klebsiella pneumoniae
and
Escherichia coli
are the most common bacteria responsible for neonatal sepsis in India and South Asia.
Materials and Methods: It was an observational study, conducted in special newborn care units (SNCUs) of Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar, Odisha from May 2017 to October 2019. All neonates (<28 days of life) with blood culture-positive sepsis were included in this study. Blood cultures were sent in all the babies with features of clinical sepsis. The demographic profile of neonates, clinical presentations, isolated organisms, and their sensitive patterns was recorded for analysis.
Results: Blood culture was sent in 445 suspected neonates with clinical sepsis out of which 115 blood culture positive organisms were isolated. Among the isolated organisms, 42 (35.6%) cases were
Staphylococcus aureus
followed by
Coagulase negative Staphylococcus
(CONS) (20.8%),
E. coli
(19.1%),
K. pneumoniae
(10.4%),
Acinetobacter baumannii
(2.7%),
Enterobacter
spp.(4.3%),
Enterococcus
spp. (4.3%), and
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
(2.7%).
S. aureus
was the predominant organism found in both early and late-onset sepsis. All Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) are resistant to ampicillin whereas cephalosporin resistance was found in 68% of cases. Mortality due to sepsis was 8%.
Conclusion:
S. aureus
followed by CONS was found to be the most common cause of sepsis in SNCU. A high degree of resistance of organisms to penicillins and cephalosporins calls for a re-evaluation of antibiotic policy and protocols for empirical treatment in neonatal sepsis.