Abstract:
The stethoscope; a universal tool of medical profession is often used on multiple
patients and it’s an additional possible vector of infection as they touch many
patients. This study was done to assess antibiotics susceptibility of bacteria
isolated from stethoscopes in Khartoum hospitals. The study was conducted
during the period from April and July 2014.
Bacterial isolates were obtained from the Research Laboratory of Sudan
University of Science and Technology. Purity of the isolates was checked by
streaking on nutrient agar. Re-identification was carried out by conventional
microbiological methods including Gram stain and biochemical tests. Modified
Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method was adopted to assess susceptibility of the
isolates against traditionally used antibiotics.
The results revealed that a total of 136 bacterial isolates were re-identified as follows;
S. epidermidis 37; S. warneri 16; S. aureus 14; P. aeruginosa 12; S. haemolyticus 11;
K. pneumonia 11; E. coli 10; S. hominis 7; S. lugdunensis 6; Proteus spp.6; and S.
saprophyticus 5.
Study on susceptibility of bacterial isolates to different antibiotics revealed that E. coli
were susceptible (100%) to Ciprofloxacin, Cephalothin and Chloramphenicol;
Klebseilla pneumoniae were susceptible (91%) to Gentamicin and Ampicillin; Protus
species were susceptible (100%) to Gentamicin and Ciprofloxacin and Psedomonas
V
aeruginosa were susceptible (100%) to Imipenem, Ciprofloxacin and Gentamicin.
Isolates of Staphylococcus aureus were susceptible to Ciprofloxacin, Erythromycin and
Streptomycin (100%), (71%) and (64%) respectively. On the other hand, Streptomycin
was the most potent antibiotic against all Staphylococcus species.
The study concluded that susceptibility of Gram-negative rods was high (100%) to
Gentamicin, while Gram-positive cocci was high (100%) to Streptomycin. Further studies
are required to validate the results of this study.