AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY ON DEADLY DRUG-DEFYING UNTREATABLE CARBAPENEM-RESISTANT GRAM-NEGATIVE BACTERIA ENCOUNTERED IN SOUTH INDIA

Abstract

Abstract

Background/Purpose: The rise of deadly superbugs†among the pathogenic bacterial community is becoming a serious threat and the most centered concern in the field of Clinical Microbiology. The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiological report on the current scenario of the Multi Drug Resistance (MDR) and Extensive Drug Resistance (XDR) characteristics of the frequent clinical isolates in South India.

Methods: In this study, isolates were analyzed using standard microbiological techniques for a 3 months period (January 2013 to March 2013). Antimicrobial susceptibility test in accordance with Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines (MICRO S23) 2013 were conducted.  Resistant pattern analysis was done using penicillin, aminoglycosides, monobactam, cephalosporins, quinolones, carbapenems, tetracyclines, amphenicols, sulfonamides, and nitrofurantoin classes.

Results: The highest frequency of MDR characters was owned equally by both the Escherichia coli and Klebsiella sp. with 29% resistance. However, Acinetobacter sp., among the MDRs, though it contributed to only 6% prevalence, it exhibited 100% resistance toward carbapenems compared to all other organisms. Our study revealed that the prevalence of carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria in South India is 21.42%.

Conclusion: This study mainly underlines the increasing resistance in gram-negative bacteria to carbapenem with the data analysis over a 3-months period. This epidemiological report also insists on the dissemination of multidrug resistance among Gram-negative bacteria in the South India. Hence, our team is working on the data for the similar period in the coming years also for having a strong hold on the status of MDR and XDR each year.

KEYWORDS: Antibiotic resistance; Epidemiology; Extreme drug-resistant gram-negative bacteria; Multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria; Resistance pattern