Bacteriological profile & antibiotic susceptibility pattern of isolates from endotracheal secretions & bronchoalveolar lavage fluid at a tertiary care hospital – A six-month study

Introduction: Lower respiratory tract infections, especially aspiration pneumonia is very common in hospitalized & critically ill patients on mechanical ventilator.Aim & Objective: To determine the bacteriological profile and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the isolates from endotracheal secretions and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples obtained from patients who were mechanically ventilated in various ICUs of the hospital.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted for six months by analyzing data collected from medical records of patients and microbiology laboratory using R software. The patient inclusion & exclusion criteria were determined as per CPIS score.Results: around 101 samples were received, and overall culture positivity rate was found as 50/101[49.50%]. The ratio of males was higher in the study for both samples obtained and culture positive specimens. The age range of patients was between