Microbiological profile of neonatal septicaemia in a tertiary care hospital at Dehradun.

Introduction: Incidence of neonatal septicaemia varies from place to place and from on setup to other, which continuously changes with time and usage of antibiotics. Different groups of organisms have been implicated for causing early onset and late onset septicaemia. The majority of for neonatal septicaemia may be due to transplacental transmission, contaminated instruments, respirators used for resuscitation and inadequate handwashing by health care personnel. Material & methods: This prospective study was carried out on suspected cases of neonatal septicaemia by analyzing their blood cultures and determination of antibiotic sensitivities on the isolates. Results: A total of 335 neonates were studied on clinical suspicion of septicaemia. 227/335(67.76%) blood cultures were sterile while 108/335 (32.24%) were positive by automated blood culture system. Culture positive cases when analysed showed growth of bacteria in 69/108 (63.89%) and fungi in 39/108 (36.11%). Staphylococcus aureus (11/34, 32.35%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (14/35, 40%) and non albicans Candida (30/39, 76.92%) were the predominant isolates amongst Gram positive, Gram negative and yeast ?like organisms respectively. Conclusion: Periodic surveillance of isolates from suspected cases of neonatal septicaemia must be carried out for the effective management of cases and formulating antibiotic policy at hospital settings.