Shanthi J, Vanaja priya R and Balagurunathan R
To determine the prevalence of microorganisms involved in corneal keratitis and characterize the antibiotic sensitivity pattern. The 65 isolates screened were identified by Gram staining, Giemsa staining and acid fast staining (Ziehl– Neelsen) and cultured on different bacteriological media to identify the organism. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern was determined based on disk diffusion method using Mueller-Hinton agar with amikacin, gentamycin, erythromycin, ceftriaxone, nalidixic acid, ciprofloxacin, chloramphenicol, and cotrimoxazole antibiotic disks. Fungal isolates were identified with 10% Potassium hydroxide (KOH) and lactophenol cotton blue mount the scraped material was directly inoculated onto sabouraud’s dextrose and potato dextrose agar plates. Staphylococcus aureus (33.47%) and Aspergillus spp (49.52%) were the predominant bacterial and fungal isolates few Acanthamoeba were also screened for keratitis. Agricultural practices as the main factor for corneal infections with high incidence in 31-40 age groups. Expect few S. epidermidis the organisms have gained drug resistance for frequently used chloramphenicol Pseudomonas spp and Klebsiella spp were found tetracycline and cotrimoxazole. Intermediate resistance was observed with amikacin, ceftriaxone, and nalidixic acid for most of the strains. Hence optimizing and management of infective keratitis will help to know the prevalence of the pathogens for appropriate microbiological testing and treatment.
