Ear Infections : Etiologic Agents Isolated from Patients Visiting Two Hospitals in Addis Ababa and their Susceptibilities to Antimicrobials
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Date
1994-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Infonnation pertaining to the etiologic agents responsible for ear infection are absent in
Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was initiated to identify the causative agents together with
their sensitivities to antimicrobials. Microbiological samples were collected from 389 ears
of 355 patients attending the E. N. T. clinics of two Hospitals (Addis Ababa). Four hundred
and twenty (98.4%) bacterial strains and 7 (1.6%) fungi were isolated. Gram-negative
bacteria were most frequently encountered. Of these 60.4% were members of the family
Enterobacteriaceae. Of all the isolates, Proteu spp. (25.5%), Pseudomonas aentginosa
(13.1%), Staphylococcus aureus (12.7%), and Klebsiella spp. (9%) were common. All
bacterial strains were tested for their susceptibility to antibiotics following a standardized
method. Ampicillin, tetracyclline, penicillin, and cephalothin were the least effective
antimicrobials in their respective order. Pseudomonas aentginosa was the predominantly
resistant organism to several antibiotics (all strains were resistant to one or more
antibiotics, 93 % resistant to four or more antibiotics, and 71 % resistant to six or more
antibiotics). Strains of Proteus mirabilis were resistant to tetracyclline in 97% and
Staphylococcus aureus was resistant to penicillin G in 82 %. This study has showen the
polymicrobial etiology of ear infections with P. mirabilis being the dominating organism.
Gentamycin and carbenicillin were among the effective agents agaist most of the bacterial isolates.
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Biology