Antimicrobial resistance in bacterial isolates from a delhi hospital: one year outcomes

Antimicrobial resistance and hospital acquired infections have become an important public health issue. Data on pathogen and antibiotic resistance is important for physicians, microbiologists and infection control officials but limited information on antibiotic resistance prevents pathogen specific therapy and propels antibiotic misuse. A retrospective review of bacterial isolation and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles in the in- and outpatients of a Delhi hospital between January 2009-December 2009 was performed. A total of 1772 pathogens causing bacterial infections were recorded during the study period January 2009-December 2009. The most frequently encountered bacterial pathogens were Escherichia coli (40.51%), Klebsiella spp. (14.84%) and Staphylococcus aureus (13.99%). We encountered high resistance to ciprofloxacin in Enterobactereaceae family, i.e., 32.5%. Aminoglycosides, once considered optimum for broad spectrum coverage of pathogens for almost all systemic infections, are now showing high rate of resistance as was noted in Acinetobacter sp. (57.14%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (69.2%). Antibiotic susceptibility results show a higher level of resistance to cotrimoxazole, cephalosporins and ciprofloxacin which are easily available, orally administered and cheaper and thus are considered a better option for the patients. This study provides insight into the problem of resistance in bacterial pathogens in Delhi. Our results demonstrated that, in general, isolates have high rates of resistance to antibiotics commonly used in developing countries. Guidelines for surveillance and prevention of nosocomial infections must be implemented in order to reduce the rate of hospital acquired infections.