E3 Journal of Medical Research

E3 Journal of Medical Research Vol. 3 (5) pp. 058-061, October 2014; © E3 Journals; ISSN 2276-9900

Prevalence of bacterial pathogens isolated from sputum cultures of hospitalized adult patients with community-acquired pneumonia at the cape coast teaching hospital, Ghana

Abstract

Pneumonia continues to contribute to the causes of infectious disease-related death globally and appropriate antibiotic therapy has been associated with improved survival, but data are limited regarding the etiologic agents for pneumonia in Ghana. The purpose of the study was to assess the prevalence of bacterial pathogens isolated from sputum cultures of hospitalized adult patient’s with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). This study was a cross-sectional study conducted from 1st January, 2013 to 31st December, 2013. The study population consisted of all in-patients aged 18 years and above whose sputum specimens were presented to the hospital laboratory for analysis on suspicious of pneumonia or within 48hours of admission. The criteria for pneumonia used for this study was according to the ( American thoracic society guidelines,2007).All patients admitted with suspected CAP were included in the study. Data on age, sex, pathogen isolated were obtained. Specimens for Acid-Fast Bacilli (AFB) and patients with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis were excluded from the study because of the challenges of the laboratory to carry out AFB smears and cultures for Mycobacterium tuberculosis at the hospital. Majority of patients whose sputum samples were analyzed were within the 30-49 age group. The incidence of infection was more in the males (62.2%). Of the total 106 sputum specimens that were submitted for analysis, 84.9% were positive with a microbial isolate, the remaining recorded no growth. The commonest microbes isolated were Streptococcus species (spp.) followed by Citrobacter diversus, Moraxella catarrhalis and Staphylococcus spp. Out of the 90 positive cultured samples, the ratio of gram-positive isolates to gram-negative was 1:1.5. There was a high prevalence of gram-negative bacteria. Although the sample size is not large, the study reveals that the incidence of infection was age-dependent, with more of the youth being infected. The life-threatening nature of pneumonia underscores the importance of using timely surveillance data to guide the effective choice of empirical therapy which will have great impact on morbidity and mortality of patients.

Keywords: community-acquired pneumonia; sputum culture; cape coast