Bacterial Isolates from Endotracheal Aspirates and their Antimicrobial Resistance Pattern in Patients from Intensive Care Unit

The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens, especially for intensive care unit (ICU) patients is a serious threat to public health. To determine the frequency and antibiotic resistance pattern of bacterial pathogens isolated from tracheal aspirates of the patients admitted in ICU. The retrospective study included endotracheal aspirates from 734 patients admitted to the ICU, from January to December 2017. The analysis of the resistance patterns for the action of the appropriate antibiotics was performed using Vitek 2 Compact system and diffusion method. A total of 985 bacterial isolates were obtained, of which 227 strains of Klebsiella spp. (23.04%), followed by Nonfermenting Gram negative bacilli, other than Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter (NFB) (170- 17.25%), MRSA (134- 13.60%). Isolation rates indicates a higher value for male patients and elderly patients (over 65 years), statistically significant. High rates of MDR were found for Klebsiella spp. (70.04%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (66.25%) while almost all of the isolated NFB strains were MDR (98.82%). The study revealed high rates of MDR pathogens in the majority of ICU isolates which may be due to unnecessary use of higher generations of antibiotics, use of mechanical devices, age, comorbidities, and can determine a higher rate of morbidity and mortality among these patients.