Resistance patterns of multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in an ICU of a tertiary care hospital, Malaysia

BACKGROUNDS & OBJECTIVE Antimicrobial resistance is a major health problem worldwide in hospitals. The main contributing factors are exposures to broad-spectrum antimicrobials and cross-infections. Understanding the extent and type of antimicrobial use in tertiary care hospitals will aid in developing national antimicrobial stewardship priorities. METHODS In this study, we have analyzed the antimicrobial agents' usage for acquisition of multidrug resistant using retrospective, cross-sectional, single-centre study in a multidisciplinary ICU at tertiary care hospital. RESULTS Acinetobacter baumannii (ACB) was isolated in various specimens from 662 patients. From these, 136 patients who were diagnosed with Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) caused by ACB were included into the study. In our study, MDR strain accounts for 51% of all VAP cases caused by ACB. The development of ACB VAP were 10.5 + 6.4 days for MDR strains compared to susceptible organism (7.8 + 4.5 days) and had significantly longer ICU stay. CONCLUSION The study concludes that prudent use of antimicrobial agents is important to reduce acquisition of MDR ACB.