Bacteriologic profile and antimicrobial resistance in infants aged 1 year or younger with congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction.

PURPOSE

The aim of the study was to evaluate conjunctival flora and antibiotic susceptibility in infants aged 1 year or younger with congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction (CNLDO), creating an overall profile of antimicrobial susceptibility.

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective.

METHODS

The analysis was conducted at the Kazakh Eye Research Institute over a period of 6 years, from January 2017 to December 2022. Cultures were grown on various agars for bacterial and fungal analyses, with sensitivity testing via Vitek 2 Compact.

RESULTS

We examined 1210 conjunctival cultures from infants with CNLDO, yielding 1212 isolates. Most were gram-positive bacteria (77.15%), with fewer gram-negative bacteria (22.28%) and fungi (0.57%). Among the gram-positive bacteria, Staphylococcus species (61.06%) were predominant, including S epidermidis (17.49%), S aureus (10.73%), and S saprophyticus (9.32%). Enterococcus species (6.52%) and Streptococcus species (6.02%) followed. Among the gram-negative bacteria, Escherichia coli (5.78%) was most prevalent, followed by Pseudomonas species. (4.54%), Enterobacter cloacae (3.71%), and Klebsiella species (3.63%). The majority of the fungi were Candida albicans, accounting for 4 isolates (0.33%). Most of the bacteria showed high sensitivity to moxifloxacin (92.52%), levofloxacin (88.99%), gentamicin (86.74%), vancomycin (86.52%), cefotaxime (85.27%), and ofloxacin (85.62%). High resistance was noted for erythromycin (32.84%), clindamycin (28.13%), and tetracycline (21.65%).

CONCLUSION

In this study, we identified Staphylococcus, Enterococcus, and Streptococcus species and E coli as key CNLDO bacteria and highly responsive to antibiotics like levofloxacin and moxifloxacin. These findings guide effective antibiotic choices for CNLDO treatment, aiding in the prevention of antibiotic resistance.