High Prevalence of Drug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacteria: A Hospital-Based Cross-Sectional Study in Tehran, in 2017

Bacterial resistance is a worldwide phenomenon that can disrupt the treatment of many different infectious diseases. Identifying drug-resistant bacteria is very important in different aspects, such as choosing the appropriate antibiotics, accelerating treatment, reducing the costs of treatment, and preventing antibiotic resistance.

Therefore, the present study was aimed to investigate the prevalence of drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria in a teaching hospital in Tehran, Iran.

In the present cross-sectional study, all clinical specimens that were obtained from patients admitted to the Imam Hossein Hospital for infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria during 2017 were included. The pattern of antibiotic resistance was determined by the disk diffusion test as recommended by the Clinical Laboratory and Standards Institute (CLSI) guideline.

The result of the culture for 295 patients under study was reported as positive for Gram-negative bacteria. The most frequent Gram-negative bacteria were Escherichia coli (31.2%), followed by Klebsiella spp (20.3%) and Pseudomonas spp (13.2). The most antibiotic resistance was observed against cephalexin, ceftriaxone, and cefotaxime.

Resistance in Gram-negative bacteria was relatively high in the current study. Establishment of better infection control policies and education of hospital staff, especially in the ICU are recommended for the prevention and control of drug-resistant pathogens in the health care settings.