Epidemiology of antibiotic resistance in culture-positive hospitalized patients in selected hospitals in Khartoum, Sudan

Objective: To study the prevelence of antibiotic resistance and the prevalent bacterial isolates in hospitalized patients in Khartoum hospitals.Materials & Methods: A cross-sectional prevalence study was carried out during the period of April–November 2015 in Khartoum; 226 bacterial cultures were included. Identification of isolates using standard biochemical tests and antibiotic susceptibilities were determined using disc diffusion method. Results were interpreted according to the standards of the British society of antimicrobial chemotherapy.Results: Eight bacterial species were isolated: Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus spp., Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas spp., Escherichia coli, Proteus spp., and Acinetobacter spp. S. aureus was the most prevalent, the majority of which were resistant to methicillin/oxacillin (MRSA). Cultures in our study were mainly from urine (36.7%), blood samples (37.2%), and wound cultures (19%). More than 90% of the tested isolates were resistant to cefuroxime; 54% and 73.8% of Gram-positive and Gram-negative isolates, respectively, were resistant to ceftazidime. Furthermore, there was a high meropenem resistance among Gram-negative isolates tested. Multi-resistant Acinetobacter spp. as well as vancomycin-resistant S. aureus was isolated. Gram-negative isolates showed good susceptibilities to aminoglycosides as well as ciprofloxacin. However, the high resistance rate to these antibiotics was observed in Gram-positive isolates in these hospitals.Conclusion: Methicillin-resistant S. aureus was the most prevalent organism. Gramnegative isolates showed good susceptibilities to aminoglycosides and ciprofloxacin. There were high resistance rates to cefuroxime, ceftazidime, and meropenem. Five vancomycin-resistant S. aureus were identified.Keywords: antibiotic resistance, Khartoum hospital