Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of Enterococci isolated from different clinical specimens in Imam Khomeini Hospital, Ahvaz

Background : Enterococci are opportunistic bacteria that become pathogenic when they colonized. They are gram-positive cocci and one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. Of recent, they have become a significant cause of nosocomial infections. A significant reason why these organisms survive in a hospital environment is the natural resistance to several generally used antibiotics and perhaps, more importantly, their ability to acquire strength to all currently available antibiotics by mutation or by receipt of foreign genetic material through the transfer of plasmids and transposons. This study aimed to investigate antibiotic resistance profiles of Enterococci isolated from referred patients in Imam Khomeini teaching hospital. Methods: During September to March 2018, 90 samples of Enterococcus were collected from the Imam teaching Hospital, affiliated to Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences. Then, using a modified disk detection method (MDDM), the susceptibility of isolates to 7 antibiotics was evaluated. Results: : In this study Enterococci isolated from urine tract (53), bloodstream (10), cerebrospinal fluid (1), abscess (1), corneal (2), cerebrospinal fluid (1), scar (9) and secretions (14). Resistance of Enterococcus strains to vancomycin, ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, co-trimoxazole, ampicillin, imipenem, nalidixic acid and was 24.4%, 66.7%, 67.8%, 76.7%, 38.9%, 55.6% and 93.3 % respectively. 43.3% of samples obtained from men and 56.7% were from women. Conclusion: Increasing antibiotic resistant among Enterococci strains is a clinical problem in all around the world and continues to be aggravated by clonal dissemination within the health care facility leading to limited therapeutic options for patients with nosocomial infections. Based on the results of this study, a significant percentage of Enterococcus strains are resistant to ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, imipenem, nalidixic acid, and co-trimoxazole. The steady widespread with the acquisition of resistance to newer antimicrobials gives us the right continues surveillance of these adaptable pathogens.

Keywords:

Enterococci , Antibiotic resistance , Modified disk diffusion method