Isolation and susceptibility in bacterial species without a previous report as the cause of eye infection in the anterior segment

Abstract

A great number of microorganisms produce infections in the eyes. The lack of bacteriologic cultures in the ophthalmic practice may lead to an under registration of bacterial etiological agents which cause infections outside the eyes, due to they are not identified. This article reports six isolated bacterial species in patients with infections outside the eyes, some without previous report; and it also mentions the presumptive clinic diagnosis and the susceptibility found in front of the commonly used antibiotics in the ophthalmic field. 286 eye samples were bacteriologically evaluated from patients with a clinic diagnosis of conjunctivitis; Gram coloration, bacterial cultures and susceptibility tests were made. The statistical analysis was made in EPI-INFO and ESTATA 6.0 programs. Out of the 286 cultures, 177 microorganisms were isolated, from which 6 microbial genres were identified, not very associated to infections in the anterior segment, some without any pervious report in literature, Enterococcus (n=6), S.Group D no enterococcus (n=3), Alcaligenes feacalis (n=3), Citrobacter sp (n=2), Kluyvera ascorbata (n=2) and Chryseobacterium meningosepticum (n=1). Regarding resistance, Trimethroprim sulfamethoxazole (SXT), Cephalotin (CF), and Tobramicina (NN) were the antibiotics which organisms presented a higher resistance. Based on the results, it is necessary to implement cultures and antibiograms in the ophthalmic practice in order to identify and document these microorganisms; to be able to relate them with different eye pathologies by its frequency; to determine the definite implication as eye pathogens; and to contribute also to the study of the changes in the epidemiology of infections and to the monitoring of sensibility variations and bacterial resistance.