Assessment of Antibiotics Susceptibility of Bacterial Isolates from Stethoscopes in Khartoum State Hospitals

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.