Evaluation of Culture and Sensitivity Patterns of Urinary Tract Infections in Neonates and Children Presenting with Urinary Symptoms in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Objective: Evaluation ofCulture and Sensitivity Patterns of Urinary Tract Infections in neonates & children Presenting with Urinary Symptoms in a Tertiary Care Hospital Study design: A Cross-sectional study. Place and duration of the study: Department of Microbiology at Madhesh Institute of Health Sciences (MIHS), Provincial Hospital Janakpur Dham from January 2023 to December 2023. Methodology: A total of 169 patients suffering from complicated urinary tract infection (UTI) between 0 and 15 years of age were selected for the study. Clean catch mid-stream samples of urine were collected in sterile containers and immediately processed for further procedures. Blood agar, Mac Conkey agar, & CLED (cystine–lactose electrolyte deficient agar or medium) agar (Hi- media Pvt. Ltd. India) was used to subculture the colonies to get pure growth of the microorganisms. The Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method was used to determine the antibiotic susceptibility of the isolated colonies. Muller-Hinton agar plates were used to identify the sensitivity pattern. After this, the measurement of the zone of inhibition of bacterial growth was performed and comparison was done with the guidelines ofthe Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI, 2023). Results: Among 27 positive urine cultures, Escherichia coli was detected in 16 (59.25%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa was detected in 3(11.11%), Klebsiella pneumoniae was detected in 2 (7.40%) and other species like Klebsiella oxytoca one (3.70%), Serratia marcescens one (3.70%), Acinetobacter baumannii one (3.70%), Enterococcus faecalis one (3.70%), Proteus mirabilis one (3.70%) and Citrobacter freundii one (3.70%) of the positive cultures, respectively. Conclusion: The current study shows E. coli to be the most common pathogen followed by P. aeruginosa in UTI, with very high antibiotic resistance. This warrants the careful selection and conservative use of antibiotics.