Conjunctivitis among children in a teaching hospital in South-West of Nigeria: Role of Staphylococcus aureus as an aetiologic agent and its antibiogram

This study was done at the University College Hospital Ibadan, Nigeria between January and June, 2006. It was designed to determine the incidence and prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus in conjunctivitis in the Ophthalmology clinic of the hospital as well as the antibiotic sensitivity profile to chloramphenicol. A total of 210 swabs were gram-stained and cultured bacteriologically. 158 were positive for bacterial pathogens while 26 were bacteriologically sterile. A total of 174 bacterial isolate both in pure and mixed culture were isolated and 72 of the isolates were S. aureus. The age group < 1 year had the highest occurrence rate of 44.4%, followed by age group 1 - 5 years (30.6%) while the age group 6 - 10 years had the least (11.1%). More males (63.9%) than females (36.1%) were infected (p < 0.05). Susceptibility test result showed that gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, pefloxacin, erythromycin were active against s. aureus and are therefore, recommended as first line drugs. Chloramphenicol (61.1%) showed moderate activity against the organism.