RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF BLOOD STREAM INFECTIONS CAUSED BY ACINETOBACTER SPECIES AND ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY PATTERN IN A TERTIARY CARE CENTER OF BIHARMUKESH AZAD, SUPRAKASH DAS AND ASIM SARFRAZAbstract Acinetobacter baumannii (A.baumannii), one of the most important representatives of Acinetobacter spp. has emerged as an important pathogen for hospital acquired infections like bacteremia, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and skin and soft tissue infections mainly affecting critically ill patients. Acinetobacter spp. has an enhanced ability to survive and spread in hospital environments among patients and healthcare workers. Currently, most of the strains of A. baumannii are multidrug-resistant. These characteristics make Acinetobacter infections difficult to treat and prevent. Blood stream infections (BSIs) are an important cause of mortality and morbidity among patients admitted in hospitals and they constitute a major portion of all hospital acquired infections. A. baumannii has emerged in the last decades as an important pathogen causing BSIs especially in ICUs among patients with ventilator support or central line and has high mortality and morbidity. Taking into consideration these facts, the study was aimed to investigate the prevalence of Acinetobacter spp. blood stream infections and to figure out their current antimicrobial susceptibility pattern so that clinicians could be guided about proper empirical antimicrobial treatment. This retrospective study was conducted in the Dept. of Microbiology, AIIMS, Patna. Laboratory and Hospital records were analyzed for all the blood samples collected from admitted patients during the period of September 2018 to August 2019. All the blood samples had been processed by standard microbiological procedures for bacteriological identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Data were plotted and statistical analysis was done using Microsoft Excel Sheet (V. 2007). The overall prevalence of Acinetobacter spp. among blood cultures was found to be 2.3%. Patients less than 30 years of age including the pediatric age group constitute a major portion of cases (53.6%) with a male predominance. Patients admitted in various ICUs contributed a major portion (47.8%) of cases of Acinetobacter bacteremia. Colistin showed the best sensitivity (72.2%) followed by Imipenem (68.7%) and Levofloxacin (66.7%). The isolates showed the most resistance to Amoxycillin (80%) followed by Amikacin (70%) and Ceftriaxone (69.6%). Acinetobacter spp. has become an important pathogen causing BSIs especially in ICUs and involves patients not only from the older age groups but also young adults and pediatric age groups. Most of the commonly used antibiotics like Penicillin and other Cephalosporins and even aminoglycosides have become ineffective in treating such infections due to high resistance rates. Carbapenems and Colistin remain the most effective drugs but also demand their judicious use as resistance has started to emerge. |