Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus Isolated From Patients With Nosocomial Infections Admitted to Tehran Hospitals

Nosocomial infections constitute a global health problem, leading to a high rate of morbidity and mortality. The choice of antimicrobial treatment for nosocomial infections is often empirical and based on the knowledge of local antimicrobial activity patterns of the most common bacteria causing such infections. The aim of this study was to determine the 3 most prevalent bacterial pathogens including Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus causing nosocomial infections and their antimicrobial resistant profiles in patients admitted to three hospitals in Tehran city, Iran. In this cross-sectional study, the A. baumannii, P. aeruginosa and S. aureus isolates were obtained from different samples of patients with nosocomial infections admitted to different wards of three hospitals including Milad, Motahary and Loghman from November 2014 to April 2015. Nosocomial infections were defined as a culture-proven infection, which occurred more than 48 hours after admission. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using the disk diffusion method according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. In total, 539 samples were collected during the study period from patients with nosocomial infections. Overall, 198, 75 and 98 A. baumannii, P. aeruginosa and S. aureus isolates were obtained, respectively. Cefepim and meropenem were found to be the most effective antibiotics for nosocomial infections caused by S. aureus with only 1 resistant isolate. Resistance to gentamicin and amikacin and susceptibility to cefepim was the highest compared to other antibiotics amongst P. aeruginosa isolates which is in consistent with the fact that cephalosporins remain useful agents for the management of nosocomial infections caused by P. aeruginosa. Acinetobacter baumannii isolates showed lower susceptibility rates to imipenem and ciprofloxacin than other antibiotics with 189 and 187 resistant isolates, respectively; however 155 isolates were susceptible to co-trimoxazole and ceftazidime. The high resistant rate amongst A. baumannii to carbapenems is likely consequence of heavy empirical usage of this group of antibiotics. The high prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in the hospitals highlights the need for further infection control programs. Future regional epidemiological data on antimicrobial resistance patterns will be required to implement strict national antibiotic policies to restrict the spread of these resistance bugs