INCIDENCE AND ANTIBIOTICS SUSCEPTIBILITY PATTERN OF BACTERIA OF EAR ORIGIN

This study is aimed at investigating both the Gram-positive and the Gram-negative bacteria of ear swabs and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern. Ear samples of one hundred (100) subjects using sterile swab sticks were collected. Sixty-seven (67) out of 100 samples collected yielded growth when incubated at 37 ºC for 24 h. Microbiological tests were carried out to characterize the bacterial isolates. Kirby-Baur disk diffusion method was employed for antibiotic sensitivity testing. Results showed 67 isolates; Staphylococcus aureus 39 (58.2%): Streptococcus pyogenes (17.9%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (23.9%). The result obtained also showed incidence rates of Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms to be 76.1% and 23.9%, respectively. The isolates demonstrated varying susceptibility patterns. Gram-negative organisms showed the highest susceptibility to Augumetin (93.8%) and Chloranphenicol (87.5%), while the Gram-positive organisms showed the highest susceptibility to Ceftriaxone (80.4%) and Ciprofloxacin (84.3%). Both Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms showed the lowest susceptibility to Amoxicillin at 52.9% and 56.3%, respectively. It revealed that the bacterial isolates present had low susceptibility to generally available drugs; this leaves health care professionals with little options when this normal flora and opportunistic pathogens cause infection.