Bacteriological Study on Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Patients

Abstract

Abstract:Background and Aims: COPD characterized by sputum production, bacterial colonization, neutrophilic bronchial airway inflammation and poor health status, and this lead to cause morbidity and mortality worldwide. This study was designed to find out the most common bacteria that responsible for acute exacerbation of COPD, determine the antimicrobial sensitivity against the bacteria isolated.Patients and Methods: This study is done on patients admitted with acute exacerbation of COPD to hospital. The selection process of Patients was depending on clinical examination, the radiological test and pulmonary function test. The ages of patients were from 40 years and up. 80 patients, 48 males and 32 females. 80 patients with stable COPD serves as controls. A morning specimen of sputum was collected after appropriate preparation and physical character of the sputum were noted. Sputum was immediately sent to microbiology lab for culture. Sensitivity patterns in potentially pathogenic microorganisms (PPMs) were also investigated.Results: Fifty-two patients (65%) had positive sputum cultures, Indicating the presence of bacterial infection. Streptococcus pneumoniae (26.25%), Escherichia coli (7.5%) , Klebsiella pneumoniae (7.5%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5%) ,Acinetobacter baumannii (3.75%),Staphylococcus aureus(3.75%) , Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (2.5%) , Enterobacter cloacae (1.25%), Leclercia adecarboxylata (1.25%), Moraxella catarrhalis (1.25%) and Raoultella ornithinolytica (1.25%).The majority of bacterial pathogens isolated in this study were susceptible to Imipenem, Meropenem, Doxycycline and Chloramphenicol.Conclusions: Our results show Incidence of bacterial infection during acute exacerbations of COPD is about 65%. Streptococcus pneumoniae has been the most Pathogen frequently isolated; Bacterial airway infections play a great role in many, but not in all, of the cases of AECOPD. So there is the need to do a sputum bacterial culture examination on each patient with AECOPD, And with appropriate antibiotics to contribute to curing of them.