Bacterial respiratory infection epidemiology and antibiogram profile in patients attending in regional hospital, Meknes, Morocco

Abstract

Objective: The main goal of this current study was to assess the prevalence of these infections in the outpatient setting as well as in hospitalized patients at Mohammed V Hospital in Meknes, Morocco. Method: The epidemiological and microbiological characteristics of respiratory infections mentioned in the registers of the laboratory of microbiology at Mohammed V Hospital, Meknes, were collected on pre-established exploitation sheets for each case throughout a 3-year period (2017-2019). Results: A total of 7863 patients diagnosed with respiratory infections were admitted to various hospital departments. During 2017, the percentage of hospitalized patients was equivalent to 33.6% of cases, and during the year 2018, this percentage increased by roughly 4.61% before decreasing by 10.03% in 2019. Males were the most affected with a proportion of 61%, while females did not exceed 31%. The pulmonology department had the highest proportion of hospitalized patients (62.60%), followed by the medicine department (14.63%), and enterogastrology (13.55%). The seasonal distribution peaks in spring with a percentage of 33.45%. According to the bacteriological examination, 20 patients (5.42%) had a bacterial respiratory infection. The biochemical classification of the isolated bacterial species revealed the presence of three bacterial species with a high isolation frequency of Streptococcus pneumoniae (85%), followed by Escherichia coli (10%) and Staphylococcus (5) %). Conclusion: Respiratory infections are widespread throughout the spring season, with male being the most affected. Monitoring and characterization of epidemiological and microbiological data are still required to prevent and mitigate the burden of these infections on patients, healthcare systems, and society.