Microbial drug resistance in a Nursing Home

Objective: Characterize the microorganisms and their antimicrobial susceptibility in urine cultures of elderly residents of a nursing home. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study with 116 subjects from a nursing home in a city in southern Bahia. The Ethics Committee approved the study, and the Informed Consent Form was used. Collection and laboratory analysis of type I urine and urine culture were performed. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed according to the criteria of the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing. For the diagnosis of urinary tract infection, McGeer's criteria were used. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics with absolute and relative frequencies. Results: The prevalence of urinary tract infection was 33.62%, predominantly female and aged over 80 years. The uropathogens were: 69.2% Escherichia coli, 20.6% Klebsiella pneumoniae, and 5.1% Providencia stuartii and Acinetobacter baumannii. E. coli strains showed susceptibility to most antimicrobials; in K. pneumoniae, the susceptibility was variable. P. stuartii and A. baumannii showed no resistance to carbapenems and beta-lactams aztreonam and piperacillin associated with tazobactam. Conclusion: The most prevalent strains and the susceptibility profile followed a pattern close to the hospital one. It implies the need for the nursing home to promote better infection control strategies and involve the healthcare nursing staff in case management and qualification of antimicrobial prescription to reduce bacterial resistance and adverse effects in the elderly.