Trends in bacterial resistance in a tertiary university hospital over one decade

The objective of this study was to investigate bacterial resistance trends, infection sites and the relationship between resistance and admittance to the intensive care unit (ICU). A total of 53,316 bacteria identified between 1999 and 2008 were evaluated. Multidrug resistance was characterized when gram-negative bacilli (GNB) presented resistance to two or more classes of antibiotics. Gram-positive cocci (CPC) were assessed for resistance to penicillin, oxacillin and vancomycin. GNB were the most common (66.1%) isolate. There was a 3.7-fold overall increase in multidrug resistant GNB over the study period; Acinetobacter baumanii and Staphylococcus aureus were the most prevalent. Highest increases were recorded for Klebsiella pneumoniae (14.6-fold) and enterococci (73-fold). The resistance rates for GNB and GPC were 36% and 51.7%, respectively. Most multidrug resistant GNB and GPC were recovered from ICU patients (p-value < 0.001). Vancomycin-resistant enterococci were isolated during this decade with an increase of 18.7% by 2008. These data confirm the worldwide trend in multidrug bacterial resistance.