Distribution of Pathogens Involved in Infections in Oncological Patients and their Antibiotic Resistance Profile

Abstract

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Romania and worldwide. Cancer patients are at increasing risk of acquiring bacterial infection with multi-resistant germs, including multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains of Gram-negative bacteria involved in nosocomial infection. Romania is one of the South-Eastern European countries with one of the highest prevalence rates of MDR pathogens. To determine the resistance pattern of bacterial profile and antibiotic resistance pattern in cancer patients admitted at the County Emergency Clinical Hospital Craiova, Romania. A retrospective study of bacterial pathogens was carried out on 90 adult cancer patients admitted from January to December 2018. The analysis of the resistance patterns for the action of the appropriate antibiotics was performed using Vitek 2 Compact system and diffusion method. In this study there were analysed 92 samples from 90 oncological patients (37-86 years). A total of 157 bacterial isolates were obtained, of which 37 strains of Staphylococcus aureus (23.56%), followed by Streptococcus pneumoniae (23- 14.64%), Klebsiella spp. and Escherichia coli (22 - 14,01%). The most common isolates were from respiratory tract (86 isolates - 54.77%). High rates of MDR were found for E. coli (63.63%), MRSA (61,11%) and Klebsiella spp. (54,54%), while one third of the isolated strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter spp. and Proteus spp. were MDR. The findings of this study may be the basis for further more extensive studies highlighting the germs involved in the infectious pathology of cancer patients, in order to determine the antimicrobial resistance and to improve the methods of prophylaxis and treatment. Keywords: multidrug resistance (MDR), cancer patients, bacterial pathogen