Photo Credit: Ildar Abulkhanov
The following is a summary of “Characterization of infectious bacterial keratitis in Östergötland County, Sweden: a 10-year retrospective study,” published in the October 2024 issue of Ophthalmology by Roth et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to determine the types of bacteria causing keratitis infections in Östergötland, Sweden, and their susceptibility to various antibiotics.
They used electronic health records from 2010 to 2019. Records of patients with infectious keratitis were screened for microbiology-confirmed bacterial keratitis. Bacterial species and antibiotic susceptibility were determined from microbiology test results.
The results showed 190 patients with lab culture-confirmed infectious bacterial keratitis. The most frequently found bacterial species were coagulase-negative staphylococci (39%), Staphylococcus aureus (17%), and Cutibacterium acnes (10%). Pseudomonas spp. was the most frequently found Gram-negative bacterial species (7%). Contact lens wear and severely ill/blind eye were the top 2 aetiologies associated with bacterial keratitis, while 22% of the patients with bacterial keratitis were also diagnosed with glaucoma. Most isolates (157 out of 173) were susceptible to fluoroquinolones, and 145 out of 155 to chloramphenicol.
They concluded a 59% positive rate of bacterial keratitis and high susceptibility to recommended antibiotics showed an appropriate treatment option, highlighting the need for future studies to monitor antibiotic susceptibility changes.
Source: joii-journal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12348-024-00432-y
