TY - JOUR AU - Joshi, B. S. AU - Karambelkar, V. H. AU - Gadhiya, Aikya PY - 2023/02/18 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - To Study the Spectrum of Bacterial Keratitis in Western India JF - Journal of Coastal Life Medicine JA - JCLM VL - 11 IS - 1 SE - Articles DO - UR - https://www.jclmm.com/index.php/journal/article/view/365 SP - 457 - 467 AB - <p><strong>Aim:</strong> To study the spectrum of bacterial keratitis in western India.</p><p><strong>Material and methods:</strong> The study, which received ethical board approval from the authors' institution, involved a retrospective analysis of all subjects who presented to ophthalmic microbiology having a diagnosed infectious corneal ulceration. Following topical anaesthesia, an ophthalmologist scraped the base as well as edges of the ulcerated portion of the cornea with a sterile Kimura platinum spatula or a sterile Bard-Parker knife while using a slit lamp to magnify the area. Standard microbiological examinations were now possible.</p><p><strong>Results</strong><strong>:</strong> From the 250 corneal lesions that were scraped, 100 were found to have bacteria as the single isolating organism. Fifty patients showed considerable development of several bacterial species or growth of multiple bacterial species and fungi ("mixed growth") in the scraped ulcer. Eighty (80%) of the bacterial culture isolates were Gram-positive, whereas just twenty (20%) were Gram-negative. Staphylococcus spp. were the most frequently identified bacterial pathogens (61%), followed by Streptococcus spp. (13%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (10%), Bacillus spp. (5%), Acinetobacter spp. (3%) and Aeromonas spp. (2%). The least common bacterial isolates were from species including Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Serratia marcescens, and Flavobacterium.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>In this scenario, Staphylococcus spp. were the most often identified bacterial pathogens from keratitis patients. Both gatifloxacin and moxifloxacin showed excellent susceptibility against a wide range of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.</p> ER -