Wound infections result in sepsis, limb loss, long hospital stays,
higher costs, and are responsible for significant human mortality and
morbidity worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the
profile of pathogens cultured from wound infection and determine the
antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. A retrospective analysis of
bacterial pathogens and their antimicrobial susceptibility was done on
wound swab samples that have been cultured at Dessie Regional
Laboratory from 2003 to 2010. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were
done using disc diffusion technique as per the standard of Kirby-Bauer
method. The mean age of male and female patients was 31.2 and 29.8
years, respectively with male to female ratio of 1:1.6. Out of 599
wound swab samples analyzed, 422 (70.5%) were culture positive. A total
of 500 bacteria from 422 positive cases were identified. Seventy eight
(18.5%) of the culture had double infections. Staphylococcus aureus
was the most frequently isolated pathogen which accounted for 208
(41.6%) of isolates followed by Pseudomonas spp. 92 (18.4%), E. coli 82
(16.4%), Proteus spp. 55 (11.0%), Enterobacter spp. 21 (4.2%), and
Citrobacter spp. 21 (4.2%), Klebsiella spp. 12 (2.4%) and Coagulate
negative staphylococcus 9 (1.8%). Amoxicillin had the highest
resistance rate 78.9%, followed by tetracycline 76.1% and erythromycin
(63.9%). The sensitivity rates of norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin and
gentamicin were 95.1%, 91.8% and 85%, respectively. The overall
multiple antimicrobial resistances rate was 65.2% and only 13% of the
isolates were sensitive to all antimicrobial agents tested. The most
frequently isolated bacteria were sensitive to ciprofloxacin,
gentamicin, cloxacillin and norfloxacin. These antimicrobials are
considered as appropriate antimicrobials for empirical treatment of
wound infections. Periodic surveillance of aetiology and drug
susceptibility both in the community and hospital settings is
recommended
