Published online Mar 16, 2016. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v4.i3.63
Peer-review started: August 6, 2015
First decision: October 16, 2015
Revised: November 9, 2015
Accepted: January 5, 2016
Article in press: January 7, 2016
Published online: March 16, 2016
Processing time: 219 Days and 18.8 Hours
AIM: To study the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of gram-negative healthcare associated bacterial infections at two tertiary hospitals in the Sanandaj city, Kurdistan Province, Iran.
METHODS: From January 2012 to December 2012, all positive cultures from potentially sterile body fluids were gathered. They sent to professor Alborzi clinical microbiology center in Shiraz for further analysis and susceptibility testing. The antibiotic susceptibility was determined using the Kirby-Bauer method (disk diffusion technique). The Results were interpreted according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines against a series of antimicrobials. World Health Organization definitions for Healthcare associated infections were followed.
RESULTS: Seven hundred and thirty-two positive cultures were reported from both hospitals. Seventy-nine isolates/patients fulfilled the study criteria for health-care associated gram-negative infections. The most frequent bacterial cultures were from the pediatric wards (52%). Serratia marcescens (S. marcescens) (38%) Escherichia coli (E. coli) (19%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) (19%), Acinetobacter baumannii (6%), Enterobacter species (6%), Serratia odorifera (4%) and Pseudomonas species (5%) were the most frequently isolated organisms. The susceptibility pattern of common isolates i.e., S. marcescens, E. coli and K. pneumoniae for commonly used antibiotics were as follows: Ampicillin 3.3%, 6.7%, 20%; gentamicin 73.3%, 73.3%, 46.7%; ceftazidim 80%, 73.3%, 33.3%; cefepim 80%, 86.7%, 46.7%; piperacillin/tazobactam 90%, 66.7%, 86.7%; ciprofloxacin 100%, 73.3%, 86.7%; imipenem 100%, 100%, 100%, respectively.
CONCLUSION: The most effective antibiotics against gram-negative healthcare associated infections are imipenem followed by ciprofloxacin. The resistance rate is high against ampicillin and cephalothin. The high mortality rate (46.1%) associated with S. marcescens is alarming.
Core tip: To investigate the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of gram-negative healthcare associated bacterial infections a study was conducted in tertiary hospitals in Sanandaj (a large city in the west of Iran). World Health Organization guidelines for hospital-acquired infections were followed. The results were interesting and provided important information concerning antibiotic resistance, making some antibiotics such as cephalothin almost useless. According to our study, gram-negative health care associated infections are challenging especially in pediatric wards. The most effective antibiotics against gram-negative healthcare associated infections were imipenem followed by ciprofloxacin. The high mortality rate (46.1%) associated with Serratia marcescens was alarming.