Surveillance of antimicrobial susceptibility among bacterial isolates from intensive care unit patients of a tertiary-care university hospital in Iran: 2006-2009.

BACKGROUND

This study was conducted to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns among common pathogens in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a university hospital in Iran between 2006 and 2009.

METHODS

The isolates cultured in appropriate media and antimicrobial susceptibility were determined by disk diffusion tests according to the guidelines of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute.

RESULTS

A total of 606 isolates were recovered from respiratory (70.63%), urine (20.13%), blood (4.95%) and wound (1.82%) specimens of 456 patients. The most common isolates were Acinetobacter baumannii (22.4%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (20.6%), Staphylococcus aureus (11.1%), Escherichia coli (8.3%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (4.8%). Less than 7% of A. baumannii isolates were susceptible to aminoglycosides, ceftazidime, cefotaxime, imipenem, cefepime and ciprofloxacin. None was susceptible to piperacillin and piperacillin-tazobactam. The susceptibility rates of P. aeruginosa to ciprofloxacin, gentamicin and piperacillin-tazobactam were 13.6, 17.4 and 33.3%, respectively. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus made up 96.2% of S. aureus isolates and was 100% susceptible to vancomycin and 51.9% susceptible to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.

CONCLUSION

Due to the high antimicrobial resistance in the ICU, we must focus on both a wiser use of antimicrobials and the prevention of infection.