Nosocomial Infections and Epidemiology of Antibiotic Resistance in Teaching Hospitals in South East of Iran

AIM: Antibiotic resistance as one of the most serious health threats worldwide leading to a high rate of morbidity and mortality. The aim of present study was to examine the prevalence of nosocomial infections (NIs) and pattern of antibiotic resistance in teaching hospitals in Iran

METHODS: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in a period of one year in three teaching hospitals and all patients with suspected NIs symptoms were chooses. Among these patients who showed antibiotic resistance were included in the study. The samples for clinical test in laboratory were obtained with using standard methods and aseptic technique by trained personnel. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed by Kirby-Bauer’s disk diffusion method on Muller-Hinton agar (Hi Media, Mumbai, India) in accordance with the standards of the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute.

RESULTS: During one year study, 561 patients with nosocomial infections were recognized and among them 340 patients (60.6%) showed some level of antibiotic resistance. The most common cause of NIs in present study was Acinetobacter and the most type of infection was respiratory system infections (52.7%). The highest resistance rate was against Ciprofloxacin (61.8%) followed by Imipenem (50.3%).

CONCLUSION: Rate of NIs and antibiotics resistance is high in Iranian hospital. So Iranian health ministry should provide guideline and suitable programs for prevention of NIs and antibiotic therapy in hospitals.