Aim

In our study, we aimed to report the distribution as well as antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of negative bacteria in the blood cultures in our hospital in order to direct the clinicians.

Materials and Methods

We worked with blood cultures which were sent to our microbiology laboratory between 2014 and 2015 by using automated blood culture system.The identification of isolates and the antibiotic susceptibilities were controlled by using conventional automated methods. Antibiotic susceptibility was determined according to the recommendations of Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute.

Results

According to our results, the most frequently isolated bacteria from patient blood cultures were E. coli (32.1%), Acinetobacter spp. (%26.1), K. pneumoniae (17.1%) and P. aureuginosa (9.5%) respectively. The 38% of the E. Coli isolates, 62% of K. pneumonia isolates, 63% of P. aureuginosa isolates, %86 of Acinetobacter spp. isolates were isolated from samples which were obtained from intensive care units.All isolates were susceptible to colistin. E. coli isolates were mostly susceptible to imipenem and amikacin; Pseudomonas spp. isolates were mostly susceptible to amikacin and gentamicin; Acinetobacter spp. isolates were mostly susceptible to amikacin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole; and K. pneumonia isolates were mostly susceptible to imipenem and amikacin.

Conclusion

We found interesting results related to the high antibiotic resistance rates particularly against Acinetobacter spp. isolates and the abundance of gram negative bacteria in blood cultures obtained from inpatients in the intensive care units. It will be beneficial to determine the types of bacteria in blood cultures and their antibiotic susceptibilities in order to direct the empirical antibiotic use in hospitals.

Keywords: Blood culture, Gram-negative isolates, antimicrobial resistance