Abstract
A retrospective study was conducted in the Bone Marrow Transplant Center of Tunisia during a period of 10 years (from 2002 to 2011) in order to report the prevalence of infectious multi-drug resistant bacteria. Bacterial identification was carried on the basis of biochemical characteristics and API identification systems. Antibiotic susceptibility was tested by disc diffusion method on Muller-Hinton agar. During the study period, 34.5% of 142 Klebsiella pneumoniae strains and 11.46% of 218 Escherichia coli strains were extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producers. Also, 32.8% of 210 strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were imipenem and/or ceftazidime resistant and 20.75% of 106 strains of Staphylococcus aureus were methicillin resistant. A rising trend was observed for the prevalence of the selected multidrug resistant bacteria. These findings may have important clinical implications in prophylaxis and selection of antibiotic treatment. Continuous surveillance is needed, especially for onco-hematological patients.
Highlights
Increasing antibiotic resistance in bacteria is a cause of concern in the treatment of infections, in hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients who have a greater propensity toward acquiring infections because of the underlying immunosuppression
Bacterial isolates included in the present study were extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, imipenem and/or ceftazidime resistant P. aeruginosa and methicillin resistant S. aureus
The rate of ESBL producing strains was of 34.5% (49/142) for K. pneumoniae and 11.46% for E. coli (25/218)
Summary
Increasing antibiotic resistance in bacteria is a cause of concern in the treatment of infections, in hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients who have a greater propensity toward acquiring infections because of the underlying immunosuppression. Multidrug-resistant infections pose a major quandary for clinicians by complicating therapy choice, compromising patient recovery, and creating a serious threat to public health[1]. Multidrug resistant (MDR) organisms are defined as microorganisms that are resistant to one or more classes of antimicrobial agents[2].
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