Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate multi-drug resistance in A. baumannii strains that was isolated from clinical samples of three highly large hospitals in Tehran-Iran. This descriptive-cross sectional study was performed in three large hospitals in Tehran on 70 samples of Acinetobacter which were isolated from patients during April to November 2010. After identifying the species level by using culture and biochemical methods, in order to determine sensitivity of 50 isolates of A. baumannii to 13 antibiotics, standard methods according to CLSI guidelines were performed. In this study, resistance to three or more of three classes of antibiotics multidrug resistance was defined. In this study, 50A. baumannii strains, 12 A. lwoffii strains and other Acinetobacter species were isolated from patients. The majority of isolates were from blood specimens. Isolates of A. baumannii showed the highest resistance to cefepime, ceftazidime, aztreonam,norfloxacin, ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and amikacin. Tobramycin and meropenem considered as effective drugs in this study. Multi-drug resistance in these strains was respectively 55.4%. Multi-drug resistant Acinetobacters are growing and considered as important threat for hospitalized patients, so change in consumption patterns of antibiotics and control of hospital infections seems to be necessary.

Key words: Acinetobacter baumannii, nosocomial infection, multi-drug resistance, antibiogram.