Abstract:
Background: Septicemia is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in pediatric
children’s in developing countries. The etiologic agents with associated factors of septicemia and
bacterial resistance to various antimicrobial agents are increasing over time to time.
General objective: To determine the magnitude with associated factors of septicemia and
antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of isolates among pediatric patients attending Arba Minch
General Hospital, South Ethiopia
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Arba Minch General Hospital, South Ethiopia
between September 2018 to January 2019. Standard operating procedure was followed for venous
blood sample collection, blood culture isolate identifications and antimicrobial susceptibility
testing using CLSI 2017. Semi-structured questionnaire with laboratory findings (blood culture
results) were used for data analysis. A bivariant logistic regression analysis was performed to see
association between independent variables & septicemia. Adjusted odds ratio with 95% CI & Pvalue
at ≤ 0.05 was computed to determine the presence & strength of association.
Results: Out of 238 pediatric patients, 27 (11.3%) were positive for septicemia. Gram positive
bacteria were predominantly isolated 16 (57.1%). The most frequently isolated bacteria were S.
aureus 32.2%, CoNS 25%, & K. pneumoniae 14.3%. Age group between 1 – 11 months [AOR=
4.18, 95 CI, (1.34,13.00)], admission > 10 days [AOR= 5.54, 95 CI, (1.51 – 20.41)], burn case
[AOR= 3.55, 95 CI, (1.02 – 12.38)] & wound case [AOR= 5.52, 95 CI, (1.50 – 20.34)] were
showed significant association to septicemia. Bacterial isolates showed high rate of resistance to
amoxicillin, ceftriaxone, streptomycin & ampicillin. Multi drug resistance was observed in 82.1%.Conclusion: The magnitude of septicemia remains one of the major problems in pediatric
children’s in the study area. The commonest causative agents for septicemia were S. aureus, CoNS,
and K. pneumoniae. Age between 1 – 11 months, prolonged hospital stays, burn & wound patients
were more at risk to acquire septicemia. The study findings on AST showed that Gram positive
bacteria was more resistance for ceftriaxone and amoxicillin while Gram negative bacteria was
resistance for amoxicillin & streptomycin. MDR was observed in most isolated bacteria
