Resumen

ANTON, Karen et al. Pathogenic bacteria isolated from the nasopharynx of indigenous Warao children: Sucre state, Venezuela. Rev. Soc. Ven. Microbiol. [online]. 2011, vol.31, n.2, pp.112-117. ISSN 1315-2556.

We collected and `processed 49 nasopharynx samples taken from indigenous Warao children 0-10 years old who lived at the María Lopez community of the Benitez Municipalit at Sucre State, with the purpose of determining the frequency of pathogenic bacteria and their antimicrobial sensitivity in samples collected from these children during the January-March 2008 period. The bacterial identification was obtained by applying conventional bacteriological methods and the antimicrobial sensitivity was determined by the disc diffusion method, following the guidelines of the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute. The results showed presence of Moraxella catarrhalis (28.6%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (26.5%), Staphylococcus aureus (14.3%) and Haemophilus influenza (6.1%) in children with and without symptoms. The pathogenic bacteria isolated from the upper respiratory tract were more frequent in the 0-5 year old group and the most frequent identification was S. pneumoniae. Regarding antimicrobial sensitivity, S. pneumoniae was resistant to tetracycline (46.2%), trimetoprim-sulphametoxazol (38.5%), clindamicyn (33.3%) and penicillin (23.1%). The S. aureus isolates were sensitive to all the antimicrobials studied. All the M. catarrhalis isolates were resistant to ampicillin and penicillin and were also β-lactamase producers. The presence of pathogenic bacteria at the nasopharynx level in child populations signifies a risk for the development of severe respiratory tract infections

Palabras clave : Warao; respiratory pathogens; nasopharynx.