Tewelde Tesfaye¹, Getnet Beyene², Yeshigeta Gelaw³, Sisay Bekele³, Muthupandian Saravanan^1,

Bacteria are the major etiologic agents causing external ocular infections. Resistance of ocular bacteria to antimicrobial agents is a worldwide concern. In this study we sought to determine the bacterial profile and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of external ocular infections patients attending Jimma University Specialized Hospital, Southwest Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study design was employed from January 2012 to June 2012 from which a total of 198 patients with external ocular infections were included in the study. The samples thus collected were transported and are microbiologically processed using standard operating procedure (SOP) under standard laboratory conditions. The data acquired was analysed by computer for statistical analysis using SPSS version 16 for Windows. A total of 198 ocular samples were collected for microbiological evaluation, of which 148 (74.7%) had bacterial growth. The gram-positive cocci comprised 52.0% and the predominant isolate was S. aureus (28.4%). Gram-negative bacteria accounted for 48.0% and the predominant isolate was P. aeruginosa (20.9%). Majority of gram-positive cocci were susceptible to ciprofloxacin (71; 92.2%) and vancomycin (70; 90.9%) and gram-negative isolates to amikacin (67; 94.4%) and ciprofloxacin (57; 91.5%). These findings indicated that gram-positive cocci were the most common bacteria isolated from external ocular infections and were more susceptible to ciprofloxacin and vancomycin, whereas gram-negative isolates were more susceptible to amikacin and ciprofloxacin.

external ocular infections, antimicrobial agents, susceptibility pattern, standard operating procedure (SOP)