Bacteremia and antimicrobial susceptibilities in HIV-infected patients at Siriraj Hospital

Abstract

Bacterial infections in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients may frequently develop into septicemia. Our study evaluated the bacterial pathogens isolated from hemocultures of HIV-infected patients at Siriraj Hospital and their antimicrobial susceptibility tests. The percentages of positive hemocultures were 24.64, 21.38, 23.88, and 28.46% in 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999, respectively. Salmonella spp was the most pathogen isolated, followed by Escherichia coli (10.93%), Staphylococcus aureus (8.2%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (6.56%), nonfermentative gram-negative rods (6.01%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5.46%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (4.37%), and Enterobacter spp (4.37%). Salmonella, serogroup C was the most frequently isolated serogroup. It was sensitive to amoxicillin/clavulanate in 100%, ampicillin/sulbactam in 89%, cefazolin, cefuroxime, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, ceftazidime, imipenem, gentamicin, amikacin, netilmycin, ofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin in 100%. The changing spectrum of bacteria and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns in HIV-1 infected patients may provide a guideline for the selection of appropriate drugs for treatment.