A compilation of antimicrobial susceptibility data from a network of 13 Lebanese hospitals reflecting the national situation during 2015-2016.

BACKGROUND

There is a lack of official national antimicrobial resistance (AMR) data in Lebanon. Individual hospitals generate their own antibiotic susceptibility data in the form of yearly pamphlets.

METHODS

In this study, antibiotic susceptibility data from 13 hospitals distributed across different governorates of Lebanon were collected to conduct a compilation-based surveillance of AMR in Lebanon for the years 2015-2016. The findings were compared with those of a previous nationwide study in this country conducted between 2011 and 2013 as well as with similar data obtained from the 2015 and 2016 European surveillance reports of AMR. To provide a clear presentation of the AMR situation, mean percent susceptibility of different antibiotic-microbe combinations was calculated.

RESULTS

During 2015-2016, the percent susceptibility of to third-generation cephalosporins and to carbapenems was 59 and 97%, respectively. Among and spp., carbapenem susceptibility reached 70 and 12%, respectively. Among Gram positive organisms, the percent susceptibility to methicillin in was 72%, that to vancomycin in spp. was 98% and that to penicillin in was 75%. Compared with results of 2011-2013, there was an overall trend of decreased susceptibility of bacteria to the tested antibiotics, with a variation of 5 to 10%. The antibiotic susceptibility data from Lebanon were found to be comparable with those from Eastern and South-eastern European countries.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights the need to establish a robust national AMR surveillance system that enables data from Lebanon to be included in global AMR maps.