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Microbiological spectrum and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of non-viral conjunctivitis over 16 years at a tertiary eye care center in Southern India

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Abstract

Purpose

To determine the trends in the microbial spectrum and antibacterial susceptibility patterns of non-viral conjunctivitis over 16 years.

Methods

Microbiology data were reviewed from 2006–2021 for all the patients with clinically and culture-proven infectious conjunctivitis. Conjunctival swabs and/or conjunctival scrapings were collected for microbiological workup, and the demographic and antibiotic susceptibility data were extracted from the EMR (Electronic Medical Record). For statistical analysis, χ2-test was performed.

Results

Of the 1711 patients, 814 (47.57%) were culture positive and 897 (52.43%) were culture negative. Of the total culture-proven conjunctivitis cases, 775/814 (95.20%) were bacteria, and 39/814 (4.80%) were fungi. Among these bacterial isolates, 75.74% were gram-positive bacteria, while 24.26% were gram negative. The predominant gram-positive pathogens isolated were S. epidermidis (16.7%), S. aureus (17.9%) (p < 0.05), and S. pneumoniae (18.2%), while Haemophilus spp. (36.2%) (p < 0.05) was the most often isolated gram-negative bacteria (36.2%), and Aspergillus spp. was the most commonly isolated fungus (50%). The susceptibility of gram-positive bacteria to cefazoline increased from 90.46 to 98% (p = 0.01), whereas the susceptibility for gatifloxacin decreased in both gram-positive (81–41%; p < 0.0001) and gram-negative bacteria (73–58%; p = 0.02).

Conclusions

Increasing resistance of ocular isolates to mainstay antibiotics is a concern, and this data can assist healthcare practitioners in making informed choices regarding the treatment of ocular infections with ophthalmic antibiotics.

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Funding

Hyderabad Eye Research Foundation, Hyderabad, India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jhaveri Microbiology Centre, Brien Holden Eye Research Centre, L. V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, Telangana, 500034, India

    Sreyasi Maiti, Jaishree Gandhi & Joveeta Joseph

  2. Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, 576104, India

    Jaishree Gandhi

Authors
  1. Sreyasi Maiti
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  2. Jaishree Gandhi
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Contributions

JJ shared in the conception and the design of the study. SM and JG were conducted in the data collection and statistical analysis. All authors shared in the interpretation of the data and in drafting the manuscript. All authors reviewed the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joveeta Joseph.

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Conflict of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article. All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

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The institutional ethics committee approved this study, and the procedures followed the Declaration of Helsinki’s precepts. All study participants signed a consent form.

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Maiti, S., Gandhi, J. & Joseph, J. Microbiological spectrum and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of non-viral conjunctivitis over 16 years at a tertiary eye care center in Southern India. Int Ophthalmol 43, 3717–3724 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-023-02781-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-023-02781-4

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