Abstract
Multidrug-resistant bacteria can cause severe nosocomial infections in both human and veterinary clinics. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and antibiotic susceptibility of Enterococcus, Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas strains at four small animal clinics of Hungary in 2018, as these bacteria can reliably represent the level of antimicrobial resistance in the investigated environment. A total of 177 Staphylococcus colonies were found, including 22 Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and 13 Staphylococcus aureus. As regards enterococci, 9 Enterococcus faecium, 2 E. faecalis and further 286 Enterococcus strains were isolated. The number of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates (n = 34) was considered too low for relevant susceptibility testing. Among staphylococci, the highest resistance was found to sulphamethoxazole (82.9%), penicillin (65.7%) and erythromycin (54.3%), while in the case of enterococci, resistance to norfloxacin and rifampicin was the most common, with 25.5% of the strains being resistant to both antibiotics. Ten methicillin-resistant S. pseudintermedius (MRSP) and six vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) strains could be identified. Only 5.7% of the Staphylococcus isolates were susceptible to all tested agents, while this ratio was 36.2% among enterococci. The results of this study have revealed a high prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in Hungarian small animal clinics, which highlights the importance of regular disinfection processes and stringent hygiene measures in veterinary clinics.
Highlights
Nosocomial infections, known as hospital-acquired or healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), are considered a major threat in human medicine, causing thousands of deaths every year (Suthar et al, 2014; Traverse and Aceto, 2015; Bortolami et al, 2017)
The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and antibiotic susceptibility of Enterococcus, Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas strains at four small animal clinics of Hungary in 2018, as these bacteria can reliably represent the level of antimicrobial resistance in the investigated environment
The results of this study have revealed a high prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in Hungarian small animal clinics, which highlights the importance of regular disinfection processes and stringent hygiene measures in veterinary clinics
Summary
Nosocomial infections, known as hospital-acquired or healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), are considered a major threat in human medicine, causing thousands of deaths every year (Suthar et al, 2014; Traverse and Aceto, 2015; Bortolami et al, 2017). The incidence of HAIs is not so well documented in veterinary medicine; awareness of their importance is increasing (Traverse and Aceto, 2015; Oh et al, 2018). The bacteria most commonly associated with nosocomial infections include Enterococcus spp., Staphylococcus spp., Salmonella spp., Pseudomonas spp. and Escherichia coli (Mount et al, 2016; Oh et al, 2018; Duarte et al, 2019; Talebi Bezmin Abadi et al, 2019). Most of the above-mentioned pathogens belong to the so-called ESKAPE organisms
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