Abstract

Dr. Elantamilan D, Dr. Lyngdoh Wihiwot V*, Dr. Khyriem Annie B, Dr. Rajbongshi Jyotismita, Dr. Debnath Koushik

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Acinetobacter baumannii is often associated with epidemic spread in hospitals and possibly also with higher mortality among patients with systemic infections. A. baumannii has an extraordinary capacity to acquire resistance to virtually all antibiotics used in the treatment of Acinetobacter infections. Surveillance of changes in antimicrobial susceptibility trends of this agent is essential in critical care units. This study was done with an objective of comparing antimicrobial sensitivity profile of A. baumannii isolates causing systemic infection among the patients in intensive care unit (ICU) and other wards (non-ICU). Materials and methods: This was a hospital based cross-sectional study done from the routine clinical microbiology services database. All the monomicrobial bacteremic episodes caused by A.baumannii (consecutive, patient specific & non-duplicate) in the year 2015 and 2016 were included for analysis. The data was stratified into ICU and non-ICU isolates and the cumulative antibiogram was compared. All the analysis were done using MS-Excel 2016 and MedCalc v12.5.0. Results: A total of 288 A.baumannii isolates (248 ICU and 40 non-ICU) were obtained from the unique patientspecific bacteremic episodes during the study period. The antimicrobial sensitivity profile were compared and statistically significant difference was found between the ICU and non-ICU isolates among various antibiotic groups. Conclusion: Considerable difference in the sensitivity percentages for different antibiotic groups was found between ICU and non-ICU isolates which can be explained by difference in mechanisms of acquisition of resistance. Continuous surveillance and analysis can give more insights into development of resistance, which in turn can have a major role in the containment of such difficult-to-treat agents.