Prevalence of Imipenem-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolates in Iran: A Meta-Analysis

Acinetobacter baumannii is a gram-negative pathogen that is highly resistant to antibiotics. This bacterium can cause severe systemic infections, especially in hospitalized patients. Recently, antimicrobial-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii has become a life-threatening pathogen in Iran and around the world.

In this study, several Iranian and English databases were systematically searched to find all original and review articles investigating the prevalence of imipenem resistance in their sample size, while mentioning the source of clinical isolates, as well as the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance genes.  

Among genes, blaOXA-23 with a prevalence of 31% to 100% was responsible for global outbreaks of imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and was presented in most of the hospital isolates. Our meta-analysis also revealed that 74.2% of Acinetobacter baumannii were resistant to imipenem in 122 clinical studies.

Our study highlighted a rapid increase in the rate of imipenem resistance in clinical isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii in Iran. The need for periodic antibiotic care system programs to monitor the administration and use of antibiotics