Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Common Bacterial Pathogens Isolated from a New Regional Hospital in Southern Taiwan..docVIP

Original Article 889 Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Common Bacterial Pathogens Isolated from a New Regional Hospital in Southern Taiwan Hung-Ming Chen, MD; Pei-Wen Chung, MD; Yih-Jeng Yu, MD; Wan-Ling Tai , BS; 1 Wei-Ling Kao , BS; Ya-Li Chien , MS; and Cheng-Hsun Chiu, MD, PhD 1 2 Background: Antimicrobial resistance has become a major health problem in Taiwan. While some trends in antimicrobial resistance are universal, others appear to be unique for specific regions. Methods: To determine the distribution and antimicrobial drug resistance of bacterial pathogens in a new hospital in southern Taiwan, surveillance data on major bacterial pathogens isolated from Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Chia-Yi from January 2002 through December 2002 were retrospectively analyzed. The most common gram-positive isolate was Staphylococcus aureus . Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae were the two most common gram negative isolates. Pseudomonas aeruginosa ranked the first among gram-negative, glucose non-fermenting isolates, followed in the order of fre- quency by Acinetobacter baumannii. Oxacillin resistance rate of S. aureus was 58%, while vancomycin and teicoplanin remained effective against all of the isolates. The penicillin non-susceptibility rate of Streptococcus pneumo- niae was 52%, and it is notable that the rate of resistance to erythromycin was 87%. Resistance to various antimicrobial agents for P. aeruginosa , Aeromonas hydrophila, and gram-negative enteric bacilli was very common in our study. Infections caused by multidrug-resistant A. baumannii was not uncommon in this hospital but fortunately, imipenem resistant A. baumannii was rarely encountered. Antimicrobial resistance was common in nontyphoid Salmonella, S. choleraesuis and serogroup B isolates in particular. Results: Conclusion: The high rates of antimicrobial resistance among these major bacterial pathogens in