title: Bacteriological Profile and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern of Blood Culture Isolates among Septicemia Suspected Children in Selected Hospitals Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Blood stream infections are major cause of morbidity and mortality in children in developing countries. The emerging of causative agents and resistance to various antimicrobial agents are increased from time to time. The main aim of this study was to determine the bacterial agents and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns among children suspected of having septicemia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross sectional study involved about 201 pediatric patients (≤ 12 years) was conducted from October 2011 to February 2012 at pediatric units of TikurAnbessa Specialized Hospital and Yekatit 12 Hospital. Standard procedure was followed for blood sample collection, isolate identifications and antimicrobial susceptibility testing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 201 study subjects 110 (54.7%) were males. Majority 147 (73.1%) of them were neonates (≤ 28 days). The mean length of hospital stay before sampling was 4.29 days. Out of the 201 tested blood samples, blood cultures were positive in 56 (27.9%).Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria constituted 29(51.8%) and 26(46.4%), respectively. The most frequent pathogen found wasStaphylococcus aureus13 (23.2%), followed bySerratia marcescens12(21.4%),CoNS11(19.6%),klebsiella spp9(16%) andSalmonella spp3(5.4%). Majority of bacterial isolates showed high resistance to Ampicillin, Penicillin, Co-trimoxazole, Gentamicin and Tetracycline which commonly used in the study area.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Majority of the isolates were multidrug resistant. These higher percentages of multi-drug resistant emerged isolates urge us to take infection prevention measures and to conduct other large studies for appropriate empiric antibiotic choice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Jigjiga University, Jigjiga, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Adugna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Negussie
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Gebru
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mulugeta
authors.affiliation: Armauer Hansen Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bedru
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Damte
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shimeles
authors.affiliation: Armauer Hansen Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Tsehaynesh
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lema
authors.affiliation: Armauer Hansen Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aseffa
keywords: Addis Ababa; Antimicrobial susceptibility; Blood culture; Children; Septicemia