Bacterial Keratitis and Fungal Keratitis In South Kerala : A Comparative Study

Address for Correspondance: Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, Government Ophthalmic Hospital. Thiruvananthapuram Abstract: A prospective study on microbial profile and epidemiological characteristics of suppurative keratitis was done at our institution from 2007 March to 2009 February. Aim: Of the study was to analyse the frequency of bacterial and fungal keratitis and to compare the clinical, epidemiological and microbiological characteristics of bacterial and fungal keratitis. Materials and methods: All clinically suspected cases of infective keratitis, attended our institution for a period of 2 years were enrolled for the study. Corneal scrapings were performed and processed for direct microscopy and culture in appropriate media using standard laboratory protocols. All culture positive cases, were microorganisms could be isolated were included in the study and analyzed. Results: Out of 1503 patients enrolled for study, microorganisms were isolated in 321 cases (21.36%). These cases were selected for analysis. 88 cases (27.41%) were bacterial and 224 cases (69.78%) were fungal. Among bacteria, Pneumococci and Pseudomonas were predominant (26.14% each). Among fungi Fusarium(37.05%) was the most frequent. Conclusions: Incidence of fungal keratitis is significantly high in south Kerala compared to other country. This regional information is very valuable in the initial diagnosis and better management of suppurative keratitis before microbiological confirmation.