title: Antimicrobial resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from otorrhea of chronic suppurative otitis media patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is one of the most common pathogenic bacteria in hospital-acquired infections and chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM). Drug resistance of PA has been found to increase along with its frequency. We sought to determine the isolation rate and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of PA from otorrhea of CSOM and general clinical samples.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  CSOM patients had been treated at six hospitals. General clinical samples were from a single tertiary teaching hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  We assessed 1103 CSOM patients treated at six hospitals and 3177 clinically pustular samples from one tertiary teaching hospital in Korea from 2004 to 2008.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PA was the organism most frequently isolated from otorrhea patients (25.8%), with the annual isolation rate remaining constant over time. In contrast, PA was isolated from 11.2 percent of general clinical samples, and the annual PA isolation rate from general clinical samples decreased over time. The PA isolation rate from otorrhea was significantly higher than that from general clinical samples. PA isolates from both otorrhea and general clinical samples showed similar antibiotic susceptibility patterns, but susceptibilities to a few antibiotics were quite different. Although the annual PA isolation rate from general clinical samples from a single hospital tended to decrease over time, the rate from otorrhea samples did not.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Changes in isolation rate and susceptibility patterns of PA suggest the need for regular surveillance of PA isolates, including antibiotic susceptibility tests, to choose empirical antibiotics and reduce the spread of multidrug-resistant strains.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sun Kyu
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Mi Suk
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Su Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Jae Yong
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Byun
authors.forename: Moon Suh
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Seung Geun
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Yeo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D010035:Otitis Media, Suppurative / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000187:drug effects*; D055815:Young Adult