Abstract

With the growing concern about increasing rate of infection among children and young adults, the current research work was conducted to investigate the spectrum of bacterial infections in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected children, the correlation with cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) count, and the antibiotic resistance patterns of the identified bacterial strains. The work focused on children aged between 2 and 16 years who had their HIV status confirmed through laboratory tests, comparing both seropositive and seronegative cases. The participants provided blood and stool samples for analysis to detect bacterial pathogens using established microbiological methods. Microbat identification kits were utilized to identify all bacterial isolates, and their susceptibility to antimicrobial agents were assessed. The Staphylococcus aureus isolates were specifically tested for resistance to methicillin/oxacillin. A total of 2,200 samples comprising blood and faecal specimens were scrutinized to identify pathogenic and opportunistic bacteria. The prevalence of various bacterial agents among the subjects were observed to be 37.7% for bacteraemia and 56.6% for intestinal bacterial infections. Among the faecal samples, the isolated bacteria included Salmonella arizonae (4.1%), Salmonella paratyphi (5.2%), Escherichia coli (9.9%), Providencia stuartii (3.8%), Providencia alcalifaciens (5.3%), Providencia rettgeri (3.2%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (7.1%), and others such as Proteus mirabilis (9.2%), Proteus vulgaris (1.6%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (9.6%), Hafnia alvei (3.3%), Yersinia enterocolitica (3.5%), Tatumella ptyseos (1.6%), Enterobacter sakazakii (3.1%), Enterobacter agglomerans (4.9%),
Enterobacter gergoviae (3.1%), Enterobacter aerogenes (2.8%), Morganella morrgani (3.3%), Acinobacter baumannii (5.1%), Acinobacter iwoffi (3.3%), Endwardsiella tarda (3.2%), Serratia rubidaea (5.2%), Citrobacter freundii (5.6%), Klebsiella oxytoca (5.4%), and Vibro cholereae (2.2%). The blood samples revealed the presence of Salmonella arizonae (6.2%), Salmonella paratyphi (11.9%), Escherichia coli (5.3%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (4.8%), Proteus mirabilis (8.3%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (10.8%), Hafnia alvei (2.3%), Serratia rubidaea (3.1%), Citrobacter freundii (6.0%), Klebsiella oxytoca (7.5%), Serratia marcescencs (4.3%), Staphylococcus aureus (14.1%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (8.2%), and Streptococcus pyogenes (5.2%). Furthermore, eight per cent of the Gram-positive bacteria isolated from blood samples were identified as Viridans Streptococcus and anaerobic streptococci. In conclusion, the study has identified major bacterial infections among HIV infected children and early diagnosis and prompt treatment in paediatric HIV is recommended to improve the immune status and prevent opportunistic infections.

Key words: Spectrum, Bacterial, Infections, HIV and children