MAGNITUDE WITH ASSOCIATED FACTORS OF SEPTICEMIA AND ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY PATTERN OF ISOLATES AMONG PEDIATRIC PATIENTS ATTENDING ARBA MINCH GENERAL HOSPITAL, SOUTH ETHIOPIA

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