Analysis of blood-culture isolates from neonates of a rural hospital.

All blood culture reports obtained from newborns admitted in a neonatal care unit during 1983-87 were reviewed to determine the current bacteriological profile of neonatal septicemia. A total of 1160 neonates of high risk category or having clinical features suggestive of septicemia were subjected to blood culture study during this period. The culture positivity rate was 73%. Of these, 24.9% cultures were polymicrobial. Among the 1059, growths obtained, 60.1% were Gram negative, with Klebsiella, E. coli and Pseudomonas as the commonest pathogens. In Gram positive group, coagulase negative Staphylococci were most frequent, constituting 24% of the total isolates. An increasing incidence of coagulase positive Staphylococci and Pseudomonas infections was observed in recent years. Another significant finding was a comparatively high prevalence of Group D beta hemolytic isolates among streptococcal growths, with S. fecalis as the single commonest streptococci isolate.