PREVALENCE AND AMINOGLYCOSIDE RESISTANCE PATTERN OF ACINETOBACTER BAUMANNII ISOLATED FROM HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS IN LAHORE, PAKISTAN

Abstract

Acinetobacter baumannii is a gram-negative bacterium which poses a major public health threat responsible for severe and invasive infection (mostly nosocomial) associated with high mortality rate. The multidrug resistant (MDR) poses a main clinical issue specifically due to its increasingly resistance to antibiotics such as aminoglycosides. The study was aimed to isolate A. baumannii from different source of clinical specimen and evaluate their antimicrobial resistance pattern against aminoglycosides. The study was conducted from November 2023 to May 2024 and 85 clinical samples were processed including blood (in culture bottles), wound swab, urine (in catheters). Samples were analyzed on Blood agar, CLED agar, L-agar and then incubated at 340C for 24hours. Gram staining was to differentiate bacteria and gram-negative isolates were biochemically analyzed. A. baumannii was confirmed by citrate positive, catalase positive and oxidase, indole negativity. Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method was used to asses antimicrobial susceptibility testing on Muller Hinton agar and results were analyzed according to CLSI guidelines. The frequency of A. baumannii was 36.47% with men having slightly higher rates (55%) than females (45%). The most common source of isolates was urine (54%) followed by wound swab (25%) and blood (19%).  The resistance pattern for aminoglycosides was streptomycin (70.96%), amikacin (51.66%) neomycin (45.16%), gentamycin (35.48%) and tobramycin (32.25%). The findings highlight the critical necessity for ongoing antimicrobial resistance monitoring and implementation of appropriate antibiotic stewardship policies in healthcare settings to minimize the development of A baumannii.