antibiotic resistance to pseudomonas aeruginosa in the saliva of candidates of bone marrow transplantation

Statement of the problem: opportunistic infections such as pseudomonas aeruginosa, colonized from the oral cavity, are common in candidates of bone marrow transplantation. therefore, it is important to prescribe appropriate antibiotics for this group of debilitated patients.purpose: in this study, we aimed to investigate the antibiotic resistance to pseudomonas aeruginosa encountered in candidates of bone marrow transplantation referred to imam reza clinic, namazi hospital, and amir hospital, shiraz, iran.  materials and method: this cross-sectional study was performed on 30 patients with leukemia and lymphoma. to identify pseudomonas species, saliva samples were collected and cultured in a blood agar medium. considering the present therapies, we examined the antibiotic sensitivity of penicillin, oxacillin, gentamicin, tetracycline, cefepime, ciprofloxacin, imipenem, ceftazidime, cefotaxime, erythromycin, trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole, and vancomycin. statistical analysis was performed using chi-square test (χ2) and spss software. p value < 0.05 was considered significant.results: in 10 patients out of 30 for whom pseudomonas aeruginosa was found positive (33.33%), all cultures were resistant to penicillin and oxacillin (100%), followed by trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole (80%). the best performance was seen by vancomycin (20%). no correlation was found in terms of age, gender, and type of disease (lymphoma or leukemia) for antibiotic resistance (p> 0.05).conclusion: it seems that penicillin, oxacillin, tetracycline, sulfamethoxazole have significant resistance to pseudomonas aeruginosa. further research on gentamicin, ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, and especially vancomycin is recommended for effective antibiotic prescriptions against pseudomonas aeruginosa.