The Prevalence of Gram-Negative Microorganisms Isolated from VentilatorAssociated Pneumonia Patients in the Intensive Care Units of Southwest of Iran

Increasing microbial resistance is a severe threat to global public health. One of the most common diseases in the intensive care unit is ventilator-associated pneumonia.

The method of this research was non-interactive and descriptive. This study was carried out from January to March 2018, at the Golestan Hospital of Ahvaz. Patients with ventilatorassociated pneumonia (VAP) were included in the study. The prevalence of resistant gram-negative microorganisms was studied through reported laboratory antibiogram results of cultures.

From 373 hospitalized patients, 38 (10.2%) were diagnosed with VAP. From the 57 respiratory cultures performed, overall 90 microorganisms were isolated, from which Enterobacter with 36 cases (39.5%) and E.Coli with 28 cases (30.7%) were most frequently compared to other organisms. From the 90 organisms responsible for the infection, 43 cases (47.2%) were Multiple drug-resistant (MDR) microorganisms and 47 (51.6%) were Extensively drug-resistant (XDR) microorganisms. Enterobacter and E.Coli were the most prevalent MDR microorganisms with 17 cases (39.5%) and 13 (30.2%), respectively. Also, these two microorganisms were the most abundant XDR microorganisms with 19 cases (40.4%) and 15 (31.9%), respectively.

The results show the requirement of robust antibiotic monitoring and the optimization of antibiotic use in order to prevent the progression of antibiotic resistance in these units.