Study of Burkholderia cepacia Complex Isolated from Clinical Infections in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Telangana

Background: Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) has often been associated with opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients. The members of this genus are intrinsically resistant to the polymyxin and a few other groups of drugs. BCC is often associated with infections in patients with cystic fibrosis, and it can cause infections after invasive procedures such as urethral instrumentation and indwelling central venous catheters (CVCs) in intensive care units. Aims and objectives: We studied isolates belonging to Bcc and analysed their antibiotic profiles. The objective of the study is to assess the distribution of B. cepacia isolates according to clinical specimen categories, hospital wards, patient gender and age. Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted at our institute. All clinical specimens from inpatients and outpatients from whom Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) was isolated were included in this study. Results: A total of 7855 clinical samples were received for culture. Of these, 1171 specimens were found to be positive in culture, and out of these, 41 Burkholderia cepacia complex (0.52%) were isolated. These isolates showed susceptibility to ceftazidime in 83%, meropenem in 74%, levofloxacin in 47%, minocycline in 41%, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole combination in 91%. Almost 44% isolates were from urine, around 32% from blood and 15% from respiratory samples; the remaining were from other samples. Conclusion: Bcc is gaining importance as a nosocomial pathogen, and another worrying factor is that these isolates usually exhibit multidrug resistance. Key words: Burkholderia cepacia complex; multidrug resistance; nosocomial