The Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance to Polymyxins in Clinical Isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii in Iran and the World: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

[Background]Acinetobacter baumannii is one of the most important opportunistic pathogens responsible for several nosocomial infections. A major problem in treatment is antibiotic resistance.[Methods]By searching international and national databases, including PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, SID, Magiran, IranDoc and IranMedex, 38 articles between years 2002 to 2016 published world-wide were extracted and analyzed using the meta-analysis method and random effects model. The heterogeneity of studies was assessed using the I² index. Data were analyzed with the R and STATA (Ver 11/2) software.[Results]Forty-three articles were selected for this study. Drug-resistance of Acinetobacter baumannii towards Polymyxin was reported as 5%, yet for Colistin 4% was estimated. Resistance rates to Polymyxin and Colistin in the continent of America and Asia was 6% and Sensitivity rate to Polymyxin and Colistin was 96% and 80%, respectively.[Conclusions]Given that drug resistance rate of Acinetobacter baumannii to Polymyxin and Colistin in this study was 5% and 4%, respectively, thus indicating high sensitivity of Acinetobacter baumannii to these antibiotics, this group can be administered as appropriate therapeutic agents against these bacteria.