Frequency of Bacterial Isolation and Resistance Patterns in Canine Skin Samples in Medellín: Retrospective Study 2014-2017

Abstract

Among the most frequent dermatological alterations reported in canines, there are infectious processes, with Staphylococcus pseudintermedius being the most frequently isolated bacterium, and other bacterial agents have also been reported, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas spp., Proteus spp. and E. coli., among others. The present study is of retrospective descriptive nature, in which the values from a bacterial isolation database of a reference laboratory for the city of Medellín, Colombia, were analyzed. Said database was refined for samples related only to cultures of skin, which yielded a quantity of 918 skin samples, of which it was obtained that 63.93% (582/918) were cultured with positive bacterial isolation. Eight antibiotics were evaluated for the analysis of bacterial resistance using the antibiogram, such as amikacin, ampicillin-sulbactam, amoxicillinclavulanic acid, neomycin, doxycycline, azithromycin, trimethoprim sulfa, and cephalexin via sensidisks. Epidemiological variables such as sex, age, and the most commonly affected breeds were evaluated. It was found that males were affected more frequently. Likewise, animals equal to or under five years old presented a more significant amount of skin infections. In turn, it was determined that the most affected breed were mongrel dogs. The bacterium with the highest isolation frequency was Staphylococcus pseudintermedius, presenting a higher percentage of resistance to antibiotics such as doxycycline, azithromycin, and neomycin. In turn, the antibiotic with the lowest presentation of resistance was cephalexin.