ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE PROFILE AND SEROTYPING OF PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA IN UNIVERSITY CLINICAL CENTRE OF KOSOVO

GRETA LILA¹ , GJYLE MULLIQI-OSMANI¹,², RREZARTA BAJRAMI¹ , ARSIM KURTI² , ELVIR AZIZI³ , LUL RAKA¹,²

¹ University of Prishtina, Faculty of Medicine, 10000 Prishtina, Kosovo - ² National Institute of Public Health of Kosovo, 10000 Prishtina, Kosovo - ³ Quality Control Laboratory, Trepharm, 12050 Sllatinë e Madhe, Kosovo

Introduction: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most common opportunistic pathogens in nosocomial infections. It is also one of the primary organisms responsible for drug resistant infections. The aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial resistance profile of P. aeruginosa, the presence of multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa (MDR), extensively drug-resistant (XDR) and pandrug-resistant (PDR) strains and distribution of the most common serotypes among hospitalized patients in University Clinical Center of Kosovo (UCCK).

Materials and methods: During a one-year period, 229 P. aeruginosa were isolated from infected patients in clinics of UCCK from a variety of clinical sites. 80 isolates were studied as the primary isolates from the group of infected patients. P. aeruginosa isolates were identified using standard laboratory procedures. Susceptibility of isolates to antimicrobial agents was investigated using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion assay (EUCAST 2013). All isolates were serotyped by slide agglutination with commercial sera from Biorad.

Results: The most prevalent serotype was O11; this serotype showed higher resistance to antibiotics compared with other serotypes. Serotype 011 isolates were generally susceptible to imipenem and meropenem, and most often resistant to amikacin, gentamicin, tobramycin and piperacillin-tazobactam. Thirteen of 80 (28.3%) P. aeruginosa were MDR and 7 of 80 (8.8%) P. aeruginosa were XDR of the isolates tested. No PDR P. aeruginosa were detected. Multiply resistant strains were most frequently isolated from Intensive Care Unit patients.

Conclusion: The present study provides data gathering from a region where there is not a wealth of data available. It is of utmost importance in an increasing “antibiotic crisis”. Prudent use of carbapenems is of deep importance. Imipenem and meropenem should be reserved for treatment of MDR P. aeruginosa. Existence and escalation of multiresistant strains, especially of MDR, XDR P. aeruginosa necessitates continuous surveillance, development strategies and increased control of prescription practices.