Bacteria isolated from blood cultures in a neonatal and pediatric intensive care unit and their antibiotic resistance: 5-year results

Objective: Bloodstream infections represent a leading cause of illness and death among children in developing nations. The aim of this study was to determine the bacterial profile and antibiotic resistance status of pathogens isolated from blood cultures taken from children in the neonatal and pediatric intensive care units of a university hospital in Türkiye. Methods: Isolation, species identification, and antibiotic susceptibility testing of 1,197 blood culture samples from the neonatal and pediatric intensive care units of a university hospital were conducted using classical methods and automated Bact Alert and BD Phoenix systems between January 2018 and December 2022. Results: Of the 1197 blood cultures included in the study, 776 (64.82%) were isolated from neonatal, and 421 (35.18%) were isolated from the pediatric intensive care unit. Of the 1197 microorganisms identified in blood cultures, 868 (72.51%) were gram-positive, 259 (21.63%) were gram-negative bacteria, and 70 (5.84%) were fungi. Among the identified bacteria, the most common microorganism was coagulase-negative staphylococci (62.40%), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (6.59%) and Acinetobacter baumannii (6.26%). Methicillin resistance was 93.44% in coagulase-negative staphylococci and 54.54% in Staphylococcus aureus. Among Gram-negative bacteria, Acinetobacter baumannii showed a high resistance to all antibiotics tested, while Serratia marcescens had the highest susceptibility rate. Conclusion: According to the results of our study, the antibacterial resistance rates of microorganisms isolated from blood cultures differ. We believe that regular monitoring of susceptibility patterns of strains will encourage rational antibiotic use and provide more effective treatment by reducing resistance among bacteria.