title: Bacteriological profile and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of clinical isolates in a tertiary care cancer center.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This increased risk of bacterial infections in the cancer patient is further compounded by the rising trends of antibiotic resistance in commonly implicated organisms. In the Indian setting this is particularly true in case of Gram negative bacilli such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter spp. Increasing resistance among Gram positive organisms is also a matter of concern. The aim of this study was to document the common organisms isolated from bacterial infections in cancer patients and describe their antibiotic susceptibilities.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a 6 month study of all isolates from blood, urine, skin/soft tissue and respiratory samples of patients received from medical and surgical oncology units in our hospital. All samples were processed as per standard microbiology laboratory operating procedures. Isolates were identified to species level and susceptibility tests were performed as per Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines -2012.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 285 specimens from medical oncology (114) and surgical oncology services (171) were cultured. Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Acinetobacter spp. were most commonly encountered. More than half of the Acinetobacter strains were resistant to carbapenems. Resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae to cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones and carbapenems was >50%. Of the Staphylococcus aureus isolates 41.67% were methicillin resistant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is, in general, a high level of antibiotic resistance among gram negative bacilli, particularly E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter spp. Resistance among Gram positives is not as acute, although the MRSA incidence is increasing.
authors.affiliation: ACTREC, Tata Memorial Centre, Kharghar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Vivek
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bhat
authors.affiliation: ACTREC, Tata Memorial Centre, Kharghar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Sudeep
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: TMH, Tata Memorial Centre, Kharghar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Rohini
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kelkar
authors.affiliation: TMH, Tata Memorial Centre, Kharghar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Biswas
authors.affiliation: ACTREC, Tata Memorial Centre, Kharghar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Navin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khattry
authors.affiliation: ACTREC, Tata Memorial Centre, Kharghar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Aliasgar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moiyadi
authors.affiliation: ACTREC, Tata Memorial Centre, Kharghar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Prashant
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bhat
authors.affiliation: ACTREC, Tata Memorial Centre, Kharghar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Reshma
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ambulkar
authors.affiliation: ACTREC, Tata Memorial Centre, Kharghar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Preeti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chavan
authors.affiliation: ACTREC, Tata Memorial Centre, Kharghar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Shubadha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chiplunkar
authors.affiliation: ACTREC, Tata Memorial Centre, Kharghar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Amol
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kotekar
authors.affiliation: ACTREC, Tata Memorial Centre, Kharghar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Tejpal
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gupta
keywords: Antibiotics; resistance; susceptibility testing