| dc.description.abstract | Background: Non-Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacterial lower respiratory tract infection
(LRTI) is among the most prevalent diseases affecting humans across the globe. There is an
increased antimicrobial drug resistance by bacteria causing LRTI. The main objective of this
study was to investigate the bacteriological profile, risk factors and susceptibility patterns in
non-tuberculosis lower respiratory tract infections among patients attending Kisugu Health
Centre III
Methodology: A cross-sectional study design was used to recruit 236 participants at Kisugu
Health Centre III by consecutive sampling. Sputum samples were collected and analyzed for
Non-MTB bacterial causes of lower respiratory tract infections using microbiological
standard procedures. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed using disc diffusion
technique following Kirby-Bauer method. Data was cleaned and analyzed using SPSS
(version 16.0). Ethical approval was sought from the IHSU-REC
Results: The study yielded a prevalence of Non-MTB bacterial causes of LRTIs of 31.78%
(75/236) [95%, CI=25.89-38.13]. The commonest Non-MTB bacterial isolates in the study
were P. aeruginosa (38.67%), S. aureus (21.33%) and K. Pneumoniae (17.33). Others
included S. Pyogenes (9.33%), S. pneumonia (6.67%), M. catarrhalis (5.33%) and H.
influenza (1.33%). The study revealed that poor social behaviors like smoking (X2=20.86, P-
value<0.001), excessive consumption of alcohol (X2=20.20, P-value<0.001) and HIV
infection (X2=15.52, P-value<0.001) predispose one to contracting bacterial Non-MTB
LRTIs. Also young and elderly people stand higher chances of contracting these infections.
Conclusion and recommendations: The prevalence of Non-MTB bacterial lower respiratory
tract infections was high with a relatively high rate of antibiotic resistance among bacteria
like P. aeruginosa. Continuous surveillance of antibiotic susceptibility patterns of bacteria to
different antimicrobials and introduction of PCR for other bacteria other than TB alone is
recommended. The Government of Uganda should introduce policies to prevent use of drugs
across the counter without prescription from doctors.
Key words: Prevalence, Non-MTB bacterial LRTIs, Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern,
Kisugu Health Centre III. | en_US |
