2019 Volume 34 Issue 2 Pages 115-121
The aim of the current study was to investigate the significance of an age-stratified antibiogram. We compared the antimicrobial susceptibility rates of the most common bacteria isolated from children, non-elderly adults, and elderly adults in our hospital between April 2015 and March 2016: Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
In gram-positive bacteria, the bacteria isolated from children showed significant differences compared to those from the adult groups as follows: methicillin-sensitive S. aureus showed lower sensitivity to macrolides; methicillin-resistant S. aureus showed higher sensitivities to levofloxacin (LVFX) and minocycline; and S. pneumoniae showed lower sensitivity to penicillin G with the meningitis criteria. No significant differences were observed between the non-elderly and elderly groups. In gram-negative bacteria, the bacteria isolated from children and elderly adults showed relatively lower sensitivities than those from non-elderly adults. In particular, E. coli showed lower sensitivities to multiple kinds of drugs, including ampicillin/sulbactam, cephem antibiotics, LVFX, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, and fosfomycin. The isolation rate of drug-resistant bacteria was the lowest in the non-elderly group, which implies the necessity for care and attention in empiric therapy for children and the elderly. Our results suggested that developing an age-stratified antibiogram would be useful in treating infectious diseases, especially in empiric therapy for children and elderly adults.
