Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen in immune-compromised patients.\r\nHowever, reports of infections of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were limited in patients infected with HIV. The aim of the\r\nstudy was to determine the frequency of isolation and sensitivity pattern of P. aeruginosa against the commonly used\r\nantibiotics in HIV-1 positive and negative diarrheic patients.\r\nMethods: Laboratory based cross-sectional study of 312 (199 HIV seropositive and 113 HIV seronegative)\r\ndiarrheic patients of both genders were investigated at University of Gondar Hospital, Gondar, Ethiopia. P. aeruginosa\r\nisolates were isolated from diarrheic stool and identified as per standard methods and tested for antimicrobial\r\nsusceptibility.\r\nResult: Pseudomonas aeruginosa was isolated from 29.5% (92/312) of diarrheic patients, of which 20.5% were\r\nfrom HIV positive subjects. Out of 58 H. zoster positive diarrhoea patients, 47 (81%) were HIV positive and 11 (19%)\r\nwere HIV seronegative (P < 0.002). The proportion of patients with weight loss and P. aeruginosa infection was\r\nsignificantly higher in those with HIV co-infection (P < 0.05). Among P. aeruginosa isolates 96.4%, 78.6%, 73.2%,\r\n71.4%, 68.8% and 62.5% were sensitive to polymyxin B, gentamycin, norfloxacin, kanamycin, ciprofloxacin and\r\nnalidixic acid, respectively. The highest resistance observed was against ampicillin (96.4%), tetracycline (92%),\r\ntrimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole (89.3%) and chloramphenicol (74.1%). One hundred nine (97.3%) out of the 112 P.\r\naeruginosa isolates were found to be multiple drug resistant.\r\nConclusion: Though high proportion of P. aeruginosa strains were reported in HIV seropositive diarrheic\r\npatients, detailed investigation is important to get comprehensive information for better treatment of diarrhoea in\r\nHIV /AIDS patients. In this study, ampicillin, tetracycline, trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole and chloramphenicol\r\nmay not be used for the treatment of P. aeruginosa infection, unless culture and sensitivity tests are done prior to\r\ntreatment. Effective public health measures such as prevention of infections through quality environmental sanitation\r\nand personal hygiene should be emphasized.
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