Antibiotics Susceptibilities of Isolates from Eye Swabs of Babies Delivered through Spontaneous Vaginal and Caesarean Section Deliveries.

Purpose: The study aims to investigate the antibiotics susceptibilities of isolates from eye swabs of babies delivered through Spontaneous Vaginal (SVD) and non- elective Caesarean Section (CS).Materials and Methods: This was a three-month prospective cross-sectional study, with samples as eye swabs of new born babies delivered in the maternity ward of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. Samples were collected not more than 30 minutes after delivery from 82 neonates (50 SVD and 32 CS) and stored in the refrigerator. It was evacuated in ice pack containers in batches within 24 hours to the microbiology laboratory for culturing, characterisation and sensitivity.Results: The result showed that E. coli was isolated in 25(30.5%) of the samples, P. aeruginosa, 22(26.8%), S. aureus, 21(25.6%) and K. pneumoniae 14(17.1%). In the SVD group, E. coli was isolated in 16(32%) of samples, P. aeruginosa, 14(28%), S. aureus, 11(22%) and K. pneumonia, 9(18%). In the CS group, S. aureus was isolated in 10(31.3%) samples, E. coli, 9(28.1%), P. aeruginosa, 8(25.0%) and K. pneumonia, 5(15.6). There were 47(77%) SVD and 14(23%) CS samples that were resistant to three (3) or more antibiotics but this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.157). Babies born through SVD had higher bacterial isolates when compared with those delivered through CS, but this was also not statistically significant (p=0.787).Conclusion: The mode of delivery had non-significant association with bacterial isolates from eye swabs of new born babies. We recommend Randomized  Controlled Trial to establish the risk of bacterial isolates in new born babies’ eyes