Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance pattern of isolated pathogens among patients with nosocomial infections in intensive care units of Hazrat-e Rasool General Hospital, Tehran, 2020

Antibiotic resistance of pathogens responsible for nosocomial infections, has been a growing concern for healthcare system in recent decades. The aim of the current study was to identify the strains responsible for nosocomial infections and determine their frequency rates and antimicrobial resistance profiles in the patients admitted to intensive care units of Hazrat-e Rasool General Hospital in Tehran.

In this cross-sectional study we collected 936 blood, urine and sputum samples from the patients who had been admitted to the intensive care units of Hazrat-e Rasool General Hospital in Tehran between March 2020 and March 2021. Determination of strains and frequency rates of pathogens were carried out using multiple specific differential cultures. Then, we detected antibiotic resistance profile of each pathogen by using disc diffusion method.

Acinetobacter (22.5%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (18.7%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (13.6%), Candida albicans (11.2%) and Escherichia coli (7.2%) were the most common pathogens involved in nosocomial infections in this study. Acinetobacter isolates showed the highest sensitivity to clostin (100%) and cefotaxime (97.2%), respectively, and the highest resistant rate to ampicillin sulbactam (38.9%).

The results of the present study showed that in addition to the diversity of different pathogens in causing nosocomial infections in intensive care units, antibiotic resistance of these pathogens which is on the rise should be regarded important. Results of the current study and other similar periodic studies can provide valuable information for monitoring and management of emerging drug resistant infections.