Aerobic and facultative bacterial isolates from blood cultures of children with clinically diagnosed septicaemia

Abstract

A total of 120 sets of blood cultures were performed aerobically from 60 children with clinically diagnosed septicaemia at Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi. Out of these, 36 (30%) sets from 19 (31.7%) patients yielded bacterial growth while 84 (70%) sets from 41 (68.3%) were negative. Salmonella typhimurium was the most frequently isolated bacteria (63%), followed by SlIlphylococcus aureus (15.8%). Salmonella typhimurium isolates were mostly multi-antibiotic resistant, most of them only sensitive to amlkacln and cefotaxime, while all were resistant to ampicillin and co-trimoxazole, the most frequently used antibiotic in this hospital.