Post-mortem Bacteriological Examination on the Heart Blood of Aborted Fetuses in a Major Teaching Hospital, Shiraz, Iran, 2016 - 2017

Fetal abortion is one of the critical and controversial issues in most societies’ scientific, social, and academic ceremonies due to known and unknown reasons. Furthermore, updating our knowledge about isolated bacteria, their antibiotic resistance pattern, and related factors is essential for designing and implementing appropriate interventions.

The current study was conducted to determine the prevalence of bacteria among fetal abortion cases and demonstrate the antimicrobial susceptibility among isolated bacteria.

For this, 153 blood samples were collected percutaneously from the heart blood of aborted fetuses 1 - 15 hours after birth; subsequently, the identification of bacteria and evaluation of antimicrobial susceptibility testing were performed.

Generally, 82 out of 153 test cultures were positive, comprising 66 and 26 Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, respectively. The most isolated bacteria among Gram-negative isolates were Acinetobacter spp. (34/82) and Escherichia coli (17/82). Likewise, the highest antibiotic resistance was detected for Acinetobacter spp. against cefixime, amikacin, gentamycin, and ciprofloxacin (24/34). On the other hand, Staphylococcus spp. was the predominant Gram-positive cocci (10/82). Also, the highest resistance for Staphylococcus spp. was against cefoxitin and ciprofloxacin (100%).

It seems more focus on following the general hygiene of pregnant mothers is essential. However, further evidence of a clinical correlation between aborted fetuses and their mothers is required.