Positive Culture Samples of Infants with Neonatal Infections in a Tertiary Neonatal Center in Isfahan, Iran

The prevalence of microorganisms in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and neonatal internal wards is constantly changing, thus rendering the practice of empiric antibiotic therapy ineffective 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 (CSF) and urine in infants admitted to the NICU and neonatal internal ward in Al-Zahra hospital in 2011-2017.

In this cross-sectional descriptive study, we evaluated 466 positive culture samples from 2853 different cultures (blood, urine, CSF, etc) from infants admitted to the NICU and neonatal internal ward with clinical signs of neonatal infection in Al-Zahra hospital. Isfahan in 2011-2017. The samples were evaluated for type of microorganisms and sensitivity to antibiotics.

Positive cultures among Bactec, blood, CSF and urine culture samples were reported at 15.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 12.8–18.1) 9.3% (95% CI: 6.8–11.7), 6.4% (95% CI: 4.3–8) and 28.6% (95% CI: 25.4–31.7), respectively. Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most common species in Bactec (46.7%; 95% CI: 38.7–54.6), blood (53.1%; 95% CI: 39.1–67), and CSF (37.1%; 95% CI: 21–53.1) cultures while Klebsiella pneumoniae was the most frequent species in urine culture (28%; 95% CI: 22.2–33.7).

Considering the results of Bactec and blood cultures, it is essential to reduce staphylococcal infections in our settings.