ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE PATTERN AMONG NON-FERMENTING GRAM NEGATIVE BACILLI ISOLATED FROM CLINICAL SAMPLES IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN INDIA.

Background: Non-fermenting gram negative bacilli have emerged as important pathogens and their isolation is increasing among hospital acquired infections. Many are innately resistant to most antibiotics and often multidrug resistant posing difficulty in treatment. Aim: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of Non-fermenting gram negative bacilli isolated from various clinical samples and to evaluate their antimicrobial resistance pattern. Materials and methods: This was a retrospective study of Non-fermenting gram negative bacilli isolated from clinical samples over a 2-year period from July 2015 to June 2017. Non-fermenting gram negative bacilli were grown on Blood agar and MacConkey agar and identified by standard methods including gram staining, motility and appropriate biochemical tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method as per Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines and resistance pattern was studied. Results: A total of 323 Non-fermenting gram negative bacilli were isolated from 10819 samples with Pseudomonas being the most common species followed by Acinetobacter species. Pseudomonas species showed high resistance to Piperacillin-Tazobactum (60.6%). Acinetobacter species have shown higher resistance to Meropenem (42.1%) and Ceftazidime (73.7%). Conclusion: Acinetobacter species have emerged as highly resistant microorganisms causing infections especially in the Intensive Care Unit settings. However resistance to Colistin was not seen