ASSESSMENT OF ANTIBIOTICS RESISTANCE AND BIOFILM PRODUCTION AMONG BACTERIAL SPECIES ISOLATED FROM CONTACT LENSES

Contact lenses (CLs) wearing has been increased globally during recent decades, which is one of the main risk factors for developing several ocular infections. Resistant CLs bacterial infections are mainly due to the CLs contamination by bacteria producing biofilm. This study was aimed to assessment of antibiotics resistance and biofilm production among bacterial species isolated from contact lenses in Mukalla city, Hadhramout, Yemen. This cross-sectional study was carried out on 298 participants women during a period from October 2022 to January 2023. The CLs swab samples were collected, then inoculated onto culture media and incubated aerobically at 37°C for 24 hrs. The bacterial isolates were identified by conventional bacteriological methods of cultural characteristics, Gram staining and biochemical test. Antibiotics susceptibility testing was performed by disc diffusion method. Bacterial biofilm production on CLs was detected by tube method (TM) and Congo red agar (CRA) method. The prevalence of CLs bacterial infection was 54.4%. Enterobacter spp. 37.1%, followed by Escherichia coli 28.4%, Pseudomonas aeruginosa 11.7%, Klebsiella pneumoniae 6.8% were the most common Gram-negative isolated from CLs. Staphylococcus epidermides 3.7% and other coagulase negative staphylococci (CoNS) 12.3% were the most common species of Gram-positive bacteria isolated from CLs. The CRA method was found to be effective phenotypic screening method for detection of biofilm production of bacterial isolates from CLs. Prevalence of antibiotics resistance and multi-drug resistance (MDR) biofilm producing strains was found. In conclusion, there is a high prevalence of CLs use by females in Mukalla city, Hadhramout especially for cosmetic purposes. CLs infection due to improper care practices leads to eye complications. Increasing awareness is crucial to avoid identified risk factors for ocular infection.