Evaluation of the Relative Frequency of Positive Cultures of BACTEC, Blood, Cerebrospinal Fluid, and Urine in Infants Admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and the Department of Neonatal Diseases in Alzahra Hospital, Isfahan, Iran, during th

The prevalence of bacteria in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and the department of neonatal diseases is constantly changing, and the empiric practice of antibiotics is not effective due to the resistance of these microorganisms. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the relative frequency of positive cultures of BACTEC, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and urine in infants admitted to NICU and neonatal diseases section of Alzahra hospital, Isfahan, Iran, during the years 2011-2016. In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 466 positive-culture samples from 2853 different cultures [blood, urine, cerebrospinal (CSF) fluid, etc.] from infants were evaluated for the type of microorganisms and sensitivity to antibiotics. All the infants have clinical signs of neonatal infection and were admitted to NICU and neonatal diseases section of Alzahra hospital during 2011-2016. Findings: Among BACTEC, blood, CSF, and urine cultures, 15.5%, 9.3%, 6.4%, and 28.6% were positive, respectively. Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most prevalent species in the BACTEC (46.7%), blood (53.1%) and CSF (37.1%) cultures, and Klebsiella pneumoniae was the most prevalent species of urinary cultures (28%). The highest susceptibility in our study population was to co-trimoxazole, clindamycin, amikacin, and oxacillin, respectively. Regarding the results of BACTEC and blood cultures, it is essential to use necessary policies to reduce staphylococcal infections.