Epidemiology and Multidrug Resistance of and Isolated from Clinical Samples in Ethiopia.

Background: and are important nosocomial pathogens in health-care settings. Both are intrinsically resistant to many drugs and are able to become resistant to the virtually most antimicrobial agents. An increasing prevalence of infections caused by multidrug-resistant isolates has been reported in many countries.

Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional five-year retrospective study was conducted to assess the antimicrobial resistance trend of and . 893 and 729 isolates were included in the study. Conventional method was used for identification and antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by Kirby-Bauer disc-diffusion method. The isolates were from suspected bloodstream infections, wound infections, urinary tract, or surgical site nosocomial infections. Socio-demographic and other variables of interest were collected using a structured check list from a patient record data. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26 software. P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: A total of 1622 and were isolated from various clinical specimens recorded from the year 2017-2021. Out of which was 893 (60.6%) and was 729 (39.4%). Blood was the major source of the isolates (18.3%), followed by urine (16%), and tracheal aspirate (10.6%). Antimicrobial resistance among over the five years were; ampicillin (86% to 92%), ceftriaxone (66.7% to 82.2%), and ciprofloxacin (58.5% to 66.7%). In a significant increase in resistance was seen from 2017 to 2021 to Amoxicillin-clavulanate (74.1% to 84.2%), chloramphenicol (62% to 81.9%), and gentamicin (40% to 44.8%).

Conclusion: A five-year antimicrobial resistance trend analysis of and showed increasing multi drug resistance and resistance to highly potent antimicrobial agents in Ethiopia. It should be addressed with infection control measures, surveillance, and alternative new therapeutic strategies to circumvent the spread of multi-drug resistance.