Multidrug resistance and the increasing number of severe infections caused by Acinetobacter sp. strains are a major issue for intensive care units (ICUs), where patients with severe diseases and often destabilized physiological condition are admitted. The aim of this study was to investigate the antibiotic resistance profiles of 200 Acinetobacter spp. isolated from tracheal aspirates in patients admitted to ICU, Fundeni Clinical Institute (FCI).
Methods: the samples were collected from intubated patients between January 2006-December 2007. The microbial strains were identified with the help of the BD Phoenix system. The investigation of the antibiotic resistance patterns was performed by agar disk diffusion method according to CLSI recommendations, and the production of metallo-betalactamases (MBL) was confirmed by MBL E-test.
Results: the majority of the studied strains (80%) were multidrug resistant with a high percentage of panresistance (32%). Metallo-beta-lactamases production among the strains with resistance to imipenem was high (over 83%), these strains being also resistant to the majority of the other tested antibiotics with the exception of colistin.
Conclusions: Our results confirmed that the multidrug resistance is the major threat of Acinetobacter sp. infections, especially when they occur in high risk patients.