| Abstract [eng] |
Epidemiological Analysis of Otitis Externa Pathogens and Microbiological Laboratory Diagnostics The aim of this study was to perform retrospective otitis externa pathogens analysis, to evaluate the prevalence of clinically relevant pathogens, species diversity, and to investigate their susceptibility to antibacterial drugs, to give recommendations to physicians on how to prescribe the medicine. The study was conducted at Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos Centre of Laboratory Medicine Microbiology Laboratory. A retrospective analysis of 3220 external otitis pathogens isolated from 2406 patients indicates the most common types among patients of different sex and age. The sample was inoculated into solid culture medium. Grown pure colonies were identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Finally, the disk diffusion test was used to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of otitis externa pathogens. The results of this research showed that the otitis externa is most often found in adults (21-49 years; 49.1%) and women (59.1%). The most frequently identified clinically relevant otitis externa pathogens were: S. aureus, β-hemolytic Streptococcus, P. aeruginosa, Enterobacterales, Candida spp. Otitis externa pathogens are susceptible to wide range of antimicrobial drugs. S. aureus strains are sensitive to penicillins (99,4%), quinolones (98,2%), aminoglycosides (97,6%), tetracyclines (97,2%), sulfanilamides (99,1%), macrolides (91,8%), lincosamides (99,3%) but resistant to polymyxins (96,7%). P. aeruginosa strains are sensitive to β-lactam antibiotics (96,9%), quinolones (93,8%), aminoglycosides (95,9%), polymyxins (99,2%). Enterobacterales are sensitive to β-lactam antibiotics (84,4%), aminoglycosides (90,6%), quinolones (93,7%). It is recommended to conduct microbiological testing in all cases: to identify the pathogen, to investigate susceptibility to antimicrobial drugs. In order to start an empirical treatment, the first step is to take a sample and then prescribe a wide range of antibacterial drugs that affect Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Treatment results should be adjusted after cell culture and antibacterial drugs susceptibility test results are obtained. |
