Bacterial etiology and antimicrobial sensitivity patterns of ear infections at king abdulaziz university hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Objective: This study aimed to provide recent data about the causative organisms of ear infection and their antibiotic sensitivity at King Abdulaziz University Hospital. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study involved 160 patients with ear infection collected between March 2010 and February 2016. Ear swabs were investigated by conventional microbiology methods including cultures and biochemical reactions for identification of microorganisms and antibiotic sensitivity tests. Results: Out of total number of cases, 120 (75%) cases were infected by bacteria and 25 (15.6%) were infected by yeast cells. The majority of patients (n = 61, 38.1%) were of the children and young age group (0–17 years). Most of the patients were diagnosed with chronic suppurative otitis media (OM) (n = 73, 45.6%), followed by OM (n = 48, 30.0%), and otitis externa (n = 39, 24.4%). We also found that the most common pathogens cause ear infection were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and yeast cells. Conclusion: Ear infections are known as a mild disease and are usually treated with empiric therapy, and as our study revealed the most common causative agents of ear infections and their patterns of sensitivity and resistance, this will help in the proper selection of empiric therapy and prevention of the emergence of resistant strains.