Bacteriological Study and Antibiotic Susceptibility of Some Bacterial Isolates among Otitis Media Patients in Al-Muthanna Province, Iraq

Abstract Background: Otitis media is one of the diseases spread globally, especially in Iraq. Objectives: The research aims to diagnose the bacteria that cause this disease and find out the extent of its resistance to antibiotics, and thus reach the best antibiotics that eliminate these bacteria. Materials and Methods: Overall 100 samples including ear discharge were collected from different ages of patients suffering from complaints of ear infection in Al-Hussein Teaching Hospital in Al-Muthanna City, Iraq through the dates between January 2020 and May 2021. The isolates were detected by the usual cultural techniques, Gram stain, biochemical tests, and VITEK Compact System (bioMérieux, France) for bacterium detection. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was achieved for each isolate using the disc diffusion method by Kirby-Bauer. Results: The results were read according to the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) criteria, and were divided into three reads (sensitive, intermediate, and resistant). The most types of bacterial isolates identified from positive ear swabs were: Staphylococcus aureus , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Klebsiella spp., Staphylococcus hemolyticus , Staph epidermidis , Escherichia coli , Serratia spp., and Basterulla spp. The result also showed the highest infection rate of 32 (32%) isolates among the age group (11–20) years old compared with other age groups. The antibiogram result showed that most isolates were resistant to more than four drugs. In addition, 4 (4%) of the isolates were susceptible to every antibiotic examined. Conclusions: We conclude the best treatments that were effective against isolates diagnosed with otitis media were Amikacin and Gentamycin.