Prevalence and Trends of Carbapenem-Resistant and Species Isolated from Clinical Specimens at the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A Retrospective Analysis.

PURPOSE

Carbapenem-resistant species and are the leading cause of nosocomial infections. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze the prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility profile, and trends of carbapenem-resistant and species isolated from clinical specimens.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This retrospective study included data from Ethiopian Public Health Institute from 2017 to 2021. BD phoenix M50, Vitek 2 compact, and conventional identification methods were used to identify the organisms. The Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion, BD phoenix M50, and Vitek 2 compact methods were used to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of the isolates. Chi-square for linear trends using Epi Info was employed to test the significance of carbapenem resistance trends over time. The p-values of ≤0.05 were considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

Following data cleaning, 7110 reports were used. Out of this, (N=185, 2.6%) and (N=142, 2%), species and P. were isolated, respectively. Twenty-four species and fourteen species were omitted because carbapenem antimicrobial agents were not tested for them. The overall prevalence of carbapenem-resistant species and were 61% and 22%, respectively. The prevalence of carbapenem-resistant species increased significantly from 50% in 2017 to 76.2% in 2021 (=0.013). The trend of carbapenem-resistant was fluctuating (p=0.99). Carbapenem-resistant had a lower resistance rate to amikacin (44%) and tobramycin (55%); similarly, carbapenem-resistant had a lower resistance rate to amikacin (27%) and tobramycin (47%).

CONCLUSION

This study revealed a high prevalence of carbapenem-resistant species and , both of which showed better sensitivity to amikacin and tobramycin. Furthermore, species showed a statistically significant increasing trend in carbapenem resistance.