COMPARISON OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE OF ACINETOBACTER AND PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA STRAINS ISOLATED FROM INTENSIVE CARE UNITS WITH OTHER CLINICS

BURCIN OZER¹, MELEK INCI¹, NIZAMI DURAN¹, SEYDA KURTGOZ¹, GULCAN ALAGOZ¹, OZGUR PASA¹, CETIN KILINC¹

¹Mustafa Kemal University, School of Medicine, Department of Medical Microbiology, Hatay, Turkey

Introduction: Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas strains lead to serious and nosocomial infections in intensive care units (ICUs) and the other clinics. Resistance of these bacteria against to antibiotics, in particular is emerging as a very significant in intensive care units. The factors which affect the increase in resistance to antimicrobial drugs are the high probability of encountering antimicrobial resistant microorganisms and empiric antimicrobial treatment.

Materials and methods: The bacterial culture results of clinical specimens sent to Microbiology Laboratory of Mustafa Kemal University Hospital in five year period were examined retrospectively. Antimicrobial susceptibility of the bacteria of genus Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from these specimens were analyzed. The antibiotic resistance of P. aeruginosa and Acinetobacter strains isolated from ICUs and those isolated from other clinics was compared.

Results: In five-year period, 772 P. aeruginosa and 971 Acinetobacter spp. were isolated from the specimens. Twenty-three percent of P. aeruginosa strains and 49.3% of Acinetobacter spp. were isolated from the patients in intensive care units. 628 (64.7%) of Acinetobacter and 92 (11.9%) of P. aeruginosa strains were found to be Multidrug Resistant (MDR). The ratios of multidrug-resistance in Acinetobacter strains isolated from the patients in ICUs were found to be higher than those in P. aeruginosa strains isolated from the patients in intensive care units. MDR ratio of these bacteria isolated in ICUs was higher than that isolated in the other clinics.

Conclusion: Acinetobacter strains isolated from the patients in ICUs were determined to be more resistant than those isolated from the patients in other clinics while Pseudomonas strains isolated from the other clinics, were more resistant than those isolated from the patients hospitalized in ICUs. The ratio of MDR bacteria was higher in ICUs than that in other clinics.