Distribution and drug susceptibility of pathogens causing lower respiratory tract infections in 476 children

OBJECTIVE To investigate the distribution and drug susceptibility rates of the pathogens causing lower respiratory tract infections in children so as to provide basis for reasonable clinical use of antibiotics.METHODS According to the standard of National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards of the America,the pathogens isolated from the children with lower respiratory tract infections who were treated from Jan 2008 to Jun 2012 were identified,and the drug susceptibility testing was performed by using K-B method.RESULTS Of totally 204(42.86%) strains of pathogens isolated,there were 139(68.14%) strains of gram-negative bacteria and 65(31.86%) strains of gram-positive bacteria.Escherichia coli,Klebsiella pneumoniae,Staphylococcus aureus,Pseudomonas aeruginosa,and Streptococcus pneumoniae ranked the top five places of the pathogens isolated,accounting for 26.47%,16.18%,15.69%,10.29%,and 10.29%,respectively.The results of drug susceptibility testing indicated most of the pathogens were multidrug-resistant,that the gram-negative bacteria were highly sensitive to cefoperazone/sulbactam,piperacillin/tazobatam,and imipenem,and that the gram-positive bacteria were highly sensitive to vancomycin,teicoplanin,and rifampicin.CONCLUSION The gram-negative bacteria are the predominant pathogens causing the lower respiratory tract infections in the children,among which E.coli and K.pneumoniae are the most prevalent species.The strains vary in the drug susceptibility.It is necessary for the hospital to strengthen the culture of pathogens and the monitoring of drug susceptibility and to reasonably use antibiotics based on the drug susceptibility testing.