title: Bacteriological study of pyodermas in a tertiary care dermatological center.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Bacterial skin infection especially Pyoderma, commonly caused by Staphylococcus aureus and group A Streptococci, is quite common in Indian dermatology clinics. Despite a number of new antibiotics, the incidence of bacterial resistance is rising.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To find out causative organisms and their latest antibiotic susceptibility patterns in pyodermas.
  
  
  METHODS
  All in-patients admitted in the Dermatology wards in Government Medical College, Amritsar were screened over 18 months and those with erosive skin lesions and/or purulent discharge were included in the study and swabs were sent for culture and sensitivity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Majority 49/61 cases (80.33%) comprised of secondary pyodermas while primary pyodermas constituted only 12/61 cases (19.67%). Single organism was isolated in 49 cases (80.33%). More than one type of organism was isolated in 3 cases (4.92%) while none could be isolated from 9 (14.75%) cases. Staphylococcus aureus spp. was the commonest organism isolated in 36 (59.01%) cases and out of these, coagulase positive strains were found to be highly susceptible to amikacin (21cases-100%). Coagulase negative strains were sensitive to amikacin (7 cases-77.7%) and gentamycin (6 cases-66.6%) respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study gives an indication of the present pattern of bacteriological profile of pyodermas in a tertiary care hospital in north-west India. In-vitro testing is essential as knowledge of the causative organisms and resistance patterns can help us select appropriate antibiotics without wasting time in using resistant drugs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Government Medical College, Amritsar, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Suresh K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Malhotra
authors.forename: Sita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Malhotra
authors.forename: Gurjit S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Dhaliwal
authors.forename: Alpna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thakur
keywords: Bacteriological profile; pyodermas; tertiary hospital