title: An eight-year review of blood culture and susceptibility among sepsis cases in an emergency department in Northeastern Malaysia.
abstract: An understanding of common pathogens and their antibiotic sensitivity patterns is   critical for proper management of sepsis in Emergency Department (ED). The goal of the   study was to identify common organisms isolated from blood cultures of patients attended to   ED and their antimicrobial susceptibility. Beginning from 2002, all cases of positive blood   culture collected by the ED, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) were recorded and   analysed. Over the period of eight years, we documented 995 cases of positive blood cultures.   Of these samples, 549 (55.2%) were Gram-negative bacteria; 419 (42.1%) were Gram-positive   bacteria; 10 (1.0%) were anaerobic organisms; 10 (1.0%) were fungus; and 7 (0.7%) cases   were mixed organisms. Gram-negative bacteria were observed to develop more resistance to   antimicrobial agents, especially those commonly used in an outpatient setting with less than   80% sensitivity to ampicillin, cotrimoxazole and ciprofloxacin. By contrast, there has been no   marked change in the sensitivity trends of Gram-positive bacteria over the same period. In   conclusion, ED physicians are more equipped to initiate empirical antimicrobial therapy   especially when dealing with possibility of Gram-negative sepsis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia. hashairi@kk.usm.my
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hashairi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hasan
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Azlan
authors.forename: Z Z
authors.initials: ZZ
authors.lastname: Deris
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018805:Sepsis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents