LAUSR

Ocular infection is a significant public health issue in many countries and is a leading cause of morbidity and blindness worldwide. The current study aimed to determine the prevalence of bacterial isolates, and their role in patients with external ocular infections, according to age, sex, and residence in rural and urban areas. In addition, investigate the antibiotic sensitivity and resistance patterns commonly used for treating patients suffering from external ocular infections in Babylon Governorate, Iraq. Two hundred patients with clinical suspicion of external ocular infections, ranging in age from 20 to 68 years old and from both sexes, participated in this study. The eye swabs were collected and cultured to distinguish between bacterial and viral isolates. About 105 isolates (52.5%) were found to be positive bacterial cultures and taken as a study sample, whereas 95 (47.5%) negative bacterial cultures were excluded. The results revealed that ocular infections most frequently occur in the age groups between 20-49years, and most patients were males 65 (61.9%). The most common eye infection was conjunctivitis, which affected 45.7% of patients. This was followed by blepharitis, which affected 21.9% of patients; blepharoconjunctivitis, which affected 14.3% of patients; dacryocystitis, which affected 12.4% of patients; and keratitis, which affected 5.7% of patients. Also, the results indicated that the most common bacteria implicated in ocular infections are Staphylococcus aureus (37.1%), followed by Coagulase negative Staphylococci (CoNS) (26.7%), Haemophilusinfluenzae (21.9%), Streptococcuspneumoniae (6.7%), Klebsiella pneumonia (3.8%), Streptococcus pyogenes (1.9%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1.9%). Furthermore, some antibiotics were tested for these pathogenic bacterial isolates to show their effects against these bacteria. It was found that most bacterial isolates were resistant to Ampicillin, Penicillin, and Tetracycline, whereas they were susceptible to Ciprofloxacin, Gentamycinand Chloramphenicol.