Antimicrobial Resistance Pattern of Nosocomial Infections at a Referral Teaching Hospital

The choice of appropriate antibiotics to treat nosocomial infections requires knowledge of antibiotic resistance pattern in the hospitals. The aim of this study was to determine antimicrobial resistance patterns of common pathogens of nosocomial infections (pneumonia, UTI, bloodstream infection, wound infection) in a referral teaching hospital.

This cross-sectional study was conducted over a 6-month period. The pathogens isolated from biological samples of hospitalized patients with nosocomial pneumonia, UTI, bloodstream infection, or wound infection underwent antibiotic susceptibility testing by Kirby-Bauer method (disk diffusion test).

Over the study period, 442 cases of infection were recorded. Pneumonia (n = 204, 46.2%) and UTI (n = 118, 26.7%) showed the most frequency followed by BSI (n = 71, 16.1%) and wound infection (n = 49, 11%). Acinetobacter baumannii was the most common pathogen of nosocomial pneumonia infection that showed the most susceptibility to colistin (100%). Escherichia coli, the most common pathogen of urinary tract infections, showed the highest sensitivity to colistin (100%). Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most common bloodstream infection pathogen that showed the most sensitivity to vancomycin (100%). Enterococcus spp., the most common pathogens of wound infection, had the most susceptibility to linezolid (100%).

Nosocomial infections in our hospital have high rate of resistance to antibiotics shows the importance of improvement in antibiotic use and infection control.