title: Causative bacteria of respiratory tract infections in Kuwait by quantitative culture of sputum.
abstract: To determine the bacterial etiology of lower respiratory tract infections in Kuwait, we performed quantitative culture of sputum and measured the susceptibilities of the isolated bacteria against different antibiotics. A total of 140 sputum samples were collected for a period of 14 months for the study. Single and multiple pathogens as a cause of infection were isolated from 55 and 15 samples, respectively. A total of 53.8% of Streptococcus pneumoniae were penicillin-resistant and 52% and 57% of Hemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis were beta-lactamase positive, respectively. We concluded that the major pathogens of respiratory tract infections in Kuwait were H. influenzae, M. catarrhalis, S. pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and there was an increased resistance among the isolated bacteria against commonly used antibiotics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, 1-12-4 Sakamoto machi, Nagasaki 852-8102, Japan. f1136@cc.nagasaki-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: K.
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: S.
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: W. Y.
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Jamal
authors.forename: G.
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: K.
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oishi
authors.forename: T.
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagatake
authors.forename: V. O.
authors.initials: VO
authors.lastname: Rotimi