Isolation, identification and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of bacteria associated with wound of patients attending Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika, Zaria-Nigeria

An infected wound affects the quality of life, and compromises the wound’s healing rate. This study was aimed at isolating bacteria from wounds and determining their antibiotics susceptibility patterns. A total of 100 wound swab samples were collected from wound patients attending Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria. The samples were cultured and the resulting isolates identified using biochemical tests. The identified bacteria were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility test using agar disc diffusion method. Out of the 100 wound samples collected, 43 were infected with bacteria; given rise to overall prevalence of 43% bacterial wound infection. Out of the 43 isolated bacteria, 58.1% were Staphylococcus aureus, 18.6% were Klebsiella spp while 23.3% were identified to be Pseudomonas spp. Prevalence of bacterial wound infection was higher in female patients (47.3%) than their male counterpart (37.8%). Age group 21-40 years had the highest prevalence of the infections (48.3%) and the least was observed among 10-20 years (33.3%). None of the risk factors is significantly associated with the infection (p>0.05). All the isolates were 100% susceptible to ofloxacin. All the isolates showed 100% resistance to penicillin. All the Pseudomonas species were 100% MDR. Staphylococcus aureus was the most frequently encountered bacteria and ofloxacin was the first drug of choice in the treatment of wound infections.