JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES

Article

Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences

Year: 2026, Volume: 16, Issue: 2, Pages: 9-15

Original Article

Bacteriological Landscape and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Patterns of Pus isolates: A Comprehensive Analysis

Received Date:25 March 2025, Accepted Date:11 April 2026, Published Date:15 June 2026

Abstract

Introduction: Pyogenic infections are caused by a variety of microorganisms. Routine surveillance is essential to monitor the distribution and evolving susceptibility patterns of clinically significant pathogens over time. This study aims to highlight the bacteriological profile of pus samples and analyse their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns at a tertiary-care hospital in Eastern India. Methods: This was a retrospective study covering an eighteen months period from May 2023 to October 2024. A total of 428 pus samples were included. The samples were inoculated onto Blood, Chocolate and MacConkey agar plates and incubated. Bacteria were identified and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using an automated system. Results: Culture-positivity was 88%, in which Gram-negative (GN) bacteria (58%) outnumbered Gram-positives (GP) (42%). The highest number of samples was obtained from patients with skin and soft tissue infections (40%). Overall, Staphylococcus aureus was found to be the most prevalent pathogen (29%). Among GN, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was predominant (16.4%). GP isolates were most often susceptible to vancomycin (94%) and linezolid (88.3%). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was 44.4% and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE) was 20%. Enterobacterales demonstrated a high susceptibility to colistin (80%) and tigecycline (78.5%). ESBL-producing Enterobacterales (ESBL-E) positivity was 48.2% and Carbapenem resistance Enterobacterales (CRE) was 44%. All isolates of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-baumannii complex and 33.3% of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates were multi-drug resistant (MDR), demonstrating maximum susceptibility to colistin. Conclusion: Emergence of resistant strains are the significant concerns of this study. Effective infection control practices and proper antimicrobial stewardship are the utmost needs of the hour.

Keywords: Pus, Bacteriological profile, Antimicrobial susceptibility, Multidrug resistance, MRSA, ESBL

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Copyright

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Published By Sri Devaraj Urs Academy of Higher Education, Kolar, Karnataka

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