MICROBIOLOGICAL SURVEILLANCE OF INTENSIVE CARE UNITS IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL-WESTERN INDIA

Introduction- Infection is a commonly encountered problem for patients in intensive care units (ICUs) and Multidrug-resistant bacterial infection is predominant. In intensive care unit (ICU) isolation, identification and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of microbiological isolate is important because of increased rate of mortality and morbidity and their economic burden which constitutes serious problem around the globe. Materials and Methods- This study was conducted over a period of one year in the different ICUs of a tertiary care, teaching Hospital in Western India. Different clinical samples were collected and analyzed by routine conventional methods in a Microbiology laboratory. Antibiotic susceptibility (ABS) test was done using modified Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method as per CLSI guidelines. Results- Total 1145 clinical samples were processed, out of which 554 showed evidence of infection, 469 were gram-negative, 64 were gram-positive and 21 were fungal infection specially candida species. Urinary tract infections and Skin and soft tissue infections were most common infection in MICU/PICU and SICU respectively. Among the isolates, the most commonly found microorganism was Pseudomonas spp. in skin lesions, soft tissue wounds & in blood. However E. coli was predominant in urinary tract infection and Klebsiella pneumoniae in respiratory tract infection. The majority of the Gram-negative isolates were resistant to multiple antibiotics while 59.46% of Staphylococcus aureus isolates were Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).Conclusion- Outcomes of this study is highlighting the significance of microbial isolation & identification in patients in Intensive care Units (ICU) and shall improve antibiotic choices for number of patients admitted each year. Regular surveillance of antibiotic susceptibility pattern is important clue to clinicians in choosing antibiotics for the patients in ICU.