Aetiology and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of orofacial infections at Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania.

Background: Orofacial infections are common in dental practice. They constitute major medical conditions. Effective management of such patients requires current knowledge on the pattern of causative organisms and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns to common available and recommended agents. Objective: To investigate the aetiology and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of orofacial infections in patients attending the Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. Results: A total of 108 patients with ofacial infections were studied .There were more male patients with orofacial infections compared to females and that males were slightly older than females. Abscesses formed the highest proportion among patients with infections and were mainly due to pulp caries of mandibular second and third molars. Osteomyelitis mainly followed extraction of the lower second and third molars. Bacteroides, P. aeruginosa, S. pneumoniae, anaerobic streptococci and enterococci were highly associated with abscesses. E. coil, S. aureus and K pneumoniae were the most common isolates from patients with osteomyelitis. Bacteroides, anaerobic streptococci, K pneumoniae and S. pyogenes were the most common isolates in patients with necrotizing fasciitis. P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, K. pneumoniae and P. mirabilis were the most common isolates from cases of infected tumours. S. pyogenes isolates were fully sensitive to erythromycin and augumentin. S. aureus isolates were sensitive to erythromycin, cloxacillin and clindamycin while all P. aeruginosa strains were sensitive to gentamicin