Abstract: Objective To understand the distribution and drug resistance status of the pathogenic bacteria in patients with coal worker's pneumoconiosis (CWP) associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods Retrospective analysis was performed on the sputum culture and drug susceptibility test results from 102 patients with CWP associated with COPD who were admitted to Beijing Mentougou Hospital. Results A total of 275 sputum specimens were collected from the enrolled patients, from which 212 pathogenic strains were isolated, including 23 Gram-positive bacterial strains (10.85%), 159 Gram-negative bacterial strains (75%), and 30 fungal strains (14.15%). The pathogenic bacteria were primarily Gram-negative bacilli, with Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Baumanii being the most common; resistance to imipenem was not detected with Gram-negative bacteria, which were susceptible to piperacillin/sulbactam and aminoglycosides; Staphylococcus aureus had the highest detection rate among the Gram-positive bacteria, which were detected with no resistance to vancomycin and low resistance rates to piperacillin/sulbactam and cephalosporins; the fungal infection was primarily caused by Monilia albicans, which had the lowest resistance rate to amphotericin. Conclusion The pathogenic bacteria for CWP associated with COPD are mostly Gram-negative bacilli. There is significant bacterial resistance to the commonly used antibiotics. It is essential to prevent bacterial resistance to antibiotics to promote rational use of antibiotics.

Key words: pneumoconiosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, antimicrobials, bacterial antibiotic resistance