The major challenge for a burn team is nosocomial infection in burn patients, which is known to cause over 50% of burn deaths, and represents a serious health problem in burn wound patients,Taif, Sudia Arabia.
Aim: To determine Microbial Profile of Burn Wound Infections in Burn Patients,Taif, Saudi Arabia.
Method: 220 patients were included in the study. Woundswab cultures were assessed at day 4. Two hundred and twenty sampling procedures (surface swabs) were performed from the burn wounds.
Result: The study revealed that bacterial infection at least once reached 100% by the end of the 4th week of admission. Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae and coagulase negative Staphylococci were the most frequently isolated organisms, each representing 20.2%, followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa 14.6% and E. coli 10.1%. Fungi were found to cause burn wound invasion late during the second week post burn, with the highest incidence during the fourth week, reaching 36% by the end of the 4th week of admission. Candida spp. (66.7%). The susceptibility pattern of 745 bacteria isolated against 20 antimicrobial agents. All strains were susceptible to all antibiotic; resistance was observed in some strains.
Conclusion: This would enable early treatment of imminent septic episodes with proper empirical systemic antibiotics, without waiting for culture results, thus improving the overall infection related morbidity and mortality.
Khadijah Yousef AL-Aali