Multidrug Resistance Pattern of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolated from Patients with Nosocomial Infection

Abstract

Multidrug resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a threat to the patients having nosocomial infections as this pathogen increases the inpatients’ morbidity and mortality by slowing down the whole treatment process. The aim of this study was to evaluate multidrug resistant phenotypes among nosocomial strains of P. aeruginosa for analyzing their antibiotic susceptibility pattern. A total of 108 P. aeruginosa clinical isolates were recovered from various samples (pus, wound swab, urine, sputum, blood and tracheal aspirate) of patients with nosocomial infections. Antibiogram was performed by disc diffusion according to Kirby-Bauer method to study the antibiotic sensitivity pattern of the pathogen against 14 regularly used antibiotics (amikacin, aztreonam, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, co-trimoxazole, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, levofloxacin, meropenem, netilmicin, doxycycline, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, piperacillin/tazobactam, and tigecycline) in Bangladesh. The overall frequency of drug resistance was found to be very high (53.7% - 98.1%) to all of the anti-pseudomonal drugs tested. Resistance of P. aeruginosa strains against piperacillin-tazobactam was significantly less (53.7%) as compared to other thirteen antibiotics. However, isolates showed highest resistance (98.1%) to aztreonam. Next in order of resistance were doxycycline (95.4%), ceftriaxone (94.4%), amoxiclav (93.5%), and the others. The present study suggests that regularly used medications can no longer be utilized as first line therapies for suspected pseudomonad infections. This study claims for urgent epidemiological monitoring of the MDR P. aeruginosa strains in all hospitals of Bangladesh to prevent rapid dissemination of this opportunistic pathogen.

Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 40, Number 1, June 2023, pp 7-13