Drug resistance of isolated strains of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa from burn wound infections to selected antibiotics and disinfectants

Background and Objectives: Infection is the most common problem following burn injury. Selection and dissemination of intrinsic and acquired resistance mechanisms increase the probability of burn wound colonization by resistant species including Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa has frequently been reported as the cause of nosocomial outbreaks of infection in burn wards or as colonizers of the wound of burned patients. Therefore, this research study was conducted to compare the activity of various antibiotics and disinfectants against clinically important strains of P. aeruginosa. Materials and Methods: One hundred strains of P. aeruginosa were obtained as clinical isolates from burn wound infections. The antimicrobial activity of antibiotics was tested by disk diffusion method of Kirby-Baur. For disinfectants, 30 ?l of each of them was placed on sterile blank disk and studied by disk diffusion method. Results: The frequency of resistant strains to kanamycin, tobramycin, amikacin, cefotaxime, carbenicillin, ceftazidime, ceftizoxime, cefixim, ciprofloxacin, cefazolin, cephalexine, and ceftriaxone was 100, 93, 95, 81, 84, 95, 94, 100, 99, 100, 100, and 92 respectively. The averaged diameter of inhibition zone for chlorhexidine (0.2%), povidione iodine (10%), cetrimide-C (3.5%), dekosept, hypochlorite (10%), micro 10+ (2%), deconex 53+ (2%), and ethanol (70%) was 14.4 ± 1.9 mm, 10.6 ± 1.3 mm, 9.1 ± 2.6 mm, 8.6 ± 2.2 mm, 26.9 ± 5.2 mm, 6.58 ± 1.5 mm, 8.3 ± 2.2 mm, and 6 ± 0.0 mm respectively. Conclusion: The high frequency of resistance to antibiotics and sensitivity to a few disinfectants suggests to restrict the spread of P. aeruginosa and to limit administration of these antibiotics and to use of hypochlorite and chlorhexidin as disinfectant as a preventive treatment.