Microbiological study of pathogenic bacteria isolated from paediatric wound infections following the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

Abstract

On 12 May 2008, the Wenchuan earthquake struck in Sichuan, China. Within 1 month after the earthquake, 98 injured children were admitted to the Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University. According to clinical manifestations, 50 children were diagnosed with wound infections. Wound secretions were cultured for bacteria. Pathogen distribution and drug resistance were analyzed. A total of 99 pathogens were isolated; 16 (16%) were Gram-positive bacteria and 81 (82%) were Gram-negative bacteria. The distribution of pathogens isolated within 1 month after the earthquake was different to the distribution of pathogens in 546 general hospitalized cases in the y before the earthquake. The pathogens most frequently isolated 1 month after the earthquake were Acinetobacter baumannii (27%), Enterobacter cloacae (18%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (13%). The pathogens most frequently isolated in the y prior to the earthquake were Escherichia coli (27%), Staphylococcus aureus (23%) and coagulase-negative staphylococci (9%). The rate of isolated drug-resistant bacteria was higher in the earthquake cases than in the general hospitalized cases. In the cases injured in the earthquake, the rates of isolation of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing E. cloacae, E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae were higher than in the cases from before the earthquake. Multidrug-resistant and pandrug-resistant A. baumannii were isolated at a higher rate in cases after the earthquake than in those before the earthquake. These changes in the spectrum of pathogens and in the drug resistance of the pathogens isolated following an earthquake will provide the basis for emergency treatment after earthquakes.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.