Antibiogram of bacterial isolates from clinical specimens during 2018-2020 at Al-Aqsa hospital, Gaza, Palestine

Abstract

Background: The increased resistance of microorganisms to widely prescribed antibiotics in current medical practice has become a major challenge. Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are complications of healthcare and linked with high morbidity and mortality. This study aims to investigate the susceptibility pattern of bacteria isolated from different bacterial infections to commonly used antimicrobials from Al-Aqsa hospital in Gaza Strip, Palestine. Methods: A total of 8062 various clinical specimens were collected from August 2018 to February 2020 and sent to Al-Aqsa medical microbiology laboratory for bacteriological culture. Specimens were processed based on the recommended microbiology procedures. The modified Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method was used for antimicrobial susceptibility testing on Muller Hinton agar (MHA) as per the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guideline. Results: Enterobacteriaceae were the most frequent of all isolated pathogens (58.3%), followed by Staphylococcus spp (24.6%), Pseudomonas and Non-fermenters (6.9%), Streptococcus and Enterococcus (6.2%), and others (4.0). E. coli was the most frequent of all isolated pathogens (38.2%), followed by Coagulase Negative Staphylococci (14.9%), Klebsiella spp (14.2%), and Staphylococcus aureus (9.4%). The resistance of Gram-negative isolates for Piperacillin, Cephalexin, Cefuroxime, Cefotaxim, Ceftazidim, Ceftriaxone, Cefazolin, Co Trimoxazole, Nalidixic acid, Aztreonam, Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, Meropenem and Techoplanin was between 62% and 92%. On the other hand, Gram-positive isolates (Staphylococcus spp) were found susceptible to Cloxacillin (65.0%), Erythromycin (47.3%), Clindamycin (81.7%), Levofloxacin (100.0%), Rifampicin (95.2%) and Vancomycin (89.2%). Conclusion: High rates of resistance were found among bacterial pathogens isolated from Al-Aqsa hospital. Regular antimicrobial resistance surveillance should be a continuous process to provide up-to-date information to physicians with local antimicrobial resistance data. Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance, Healthcare-associated infections, Gaza, Palestine.