Antimicrobial Susceptibility Patterns of Clinical Isolates of Gram-Negative Bacteria Obtained from Intensive Care Units in a Tertiary Hospital in Beijing, China

Abstract

In this study we investigated the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in clinical isolates of Gram-negative bacteria obtained from intensive care units (ICUs) in the people's liberation Army (PLA) 309 Hospital located in Beijing, China. Between 2007 and 2010, a total of 1949 isolates of Gram-negative bacteria were collected and tested using an antibiotic susceptibility assay. A marked decrease was observed in the susceptibility of Acinetobacter baumannii to imipenem and amikacin as compared to that described in a previous report in China. Similar results were obtained for Pseudomonas aeruginosa. However, imipenem and amikacin showed strong activity against Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Overall, the high rates of antimicrobial resistance against ICU pathogens in our hospital indicated a critical condition in Beijing, China. Development of a national control and monitoring system by the government may be an ideal method to solve the present problem of managing infections due to Gram-negative bacterial pathogens.

Keywords:

• Gram-negative bacteria
• ICU
• antimicrobial resistance
• MDR