Background and Aim: Awareness of the pattern of aerobic and fungal bacterial agents and their sensitivity to common antibiotics is of great importance in the treatment of external ear canal infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of infections in Birjand residents as a tropical region of the desert in specialized clinics affiliated to Birjand University of Medical Sciences.
Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study in the Time period from 2016 to 2017 on 100 patients with otitis externa referred to specialist clinics affiliated with the Birjand University of Medical Sciences. The subjects were selected using simple non-probability sampling. Sampling was done by two swabs and examined in the reference laboratory for gram-negative, positive bacteria and fungi. Data were analyzed by Chi-Square and Fisher exact tests using SPSS software (version 16).
Results: A total of 100 patients were enrolled. The average age of participants 43.38±9.15 years and most of the participants were male (61%) and urban (70 %). The most common clinical symptoms are itching ears (48%), otalgia (21%) and erythema (19%) respectively. Out of 74 samples of bacteria/fungi with the positive culture, bacteria were reported in 89/1% and fungi with 10.9% which among them Gram-positive bacteria were most often (36 patients, 54.5 percent). The highest antibiotic resistance was reported for: cefixime (45.8%), cefazolin (30.2%), gentamicin (12%) and ciprofloxacin (12%) respectively.
Conclusion: The etiology of acute otitis externa in the patients of Birjand is composed of many bacteria and fungi. Resistance to cefixime is more than ciprofloxacin however, the susceptibility to ciprofloxacin and gentamycin is acceptable.