Multidrug-resistant acinetobacter infection and their susceptibility patterns in a tertiary care hospital

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic-resistant Acinetobacter nosocomial infection is a leading problem. It acts as an opportunistic pathogen to cause a wide spectrum of infection including nosocomial pneumonia, meningitis, endocarditis, skin and soft tissue infections, urinary tract infection, conjunctivitis, burn wound infection and bacteremia. Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter infection creates a great problem in hospital setting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The clinical specimens obtained from ICU and different surgical and medical wards were investigated using standard microbiological techniques to know the distribution of and their resistant profile. Antimicrobial resistance was studied using the modified Kirby Bauer disk diffusion technique following the CLSI protocol. RESULTS: Major infections found in different medical wards, surgical wards and ICU were due to Acinetobacter baumannii (74.02%), A. lowfii (14.2%), A. haemolyticus (7.79%), A. junii (3.8%) among Acinetobacter spices. Acinetobacter showed increased resistant against majority of commercially available drugs imipenem (5.2%), meropenem (9.75%), piperacillin-tazobactum (18.2%), netilmicin (16.24%), amikacin (14.29%), ceftazidime (74.1%), gentamicin (70.13%), ofloxacin (42.21%). CONCLUSION: A. baumannii was found to be associated with UTI, RTI, septicemia, bacteremia, and meningitis and wound infection. A. baumannii displayed higher resistance to more number of antibiotics than other nosocomial pathogens from ICU.