Publication:

Are we ushering into the pre-antibiotic era: alarming trends of antibiotic resistance in chronic otitis media in a tertiary care hospital in Delhi, India

Background Chronic otitis media is an infection of the middle ear cleft for at least 12 weeks or more. It has a high prevalence rate in India pertaining to factors like malnutrition, overcrowding and poor hygiene. Thanks to greats like Paul Ehrlich and Alexander Fleming, Antimicrobials are a powerful and readily available form of treatment for this disease.

Methods In this study we re-evaluated the changing trends in bacteriological profile of COM and the antibiotic sensitivity pattern to most of the currently available antibiotics in a tertiary care hospital in India.

Results Most common pathogens found in our study were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis, Proteus vulgaris, Enterococcus, Escherichia coli and Morganella morganii. A declining pattern in the sensitivity towards commonly used antibiotics with an alarming increase in MRSA was observed.

Conclusions The trends observed in our study warrant an urgent need for antibiotic policies, judicious use of antibiotics and vigilance in our hospitals.