Monitoring antibiotic resistance with a cumulative antibiogram in a university hospital

Aims: Treatment of infectious diseases is empirically regulated in many centers. It is very important to follow the antimicrobial resistance rates and resistance profile. For this, sharing the cumulative antimicrobial susceptibility results of each institution will contribute to clinicians in choosing antibiotics. This study aimed to contribute to clinicians' empirical treatment selection by determining the resistance rates of Enterobacteriaceae and nonfermentative gram-negative bacilli isolated from various clinical samples in hospitalized patients to some antibiotics. Methods: A retrospective study of 23118 Enterobacteriaceae and 6864 nonfermentative gram-negative bacilli was performed over a 5-year period (2015-2019) at Ondokuz Mayıs University Faculty of Medicine Hospital. Isolates were identified and their antibiotic susceptibilities were determined using the Vitek MS (bioMérieux, France) system. Results were interpreted according to the EUCAST criteria of that year. Results: The sensitivity rates of some of the investigated antibiotics have decreased over the years. Carbapenems are the most sensitive group for Enterobacteriaceae isolates, and aminoglycoside antibiotics remain important for nonfermentative bacteria. Conclusion: To determine empirical treatment for microorganisms frequently isolated in the clinic and to reduce mortality and morbidity, many clinical microbiology laboratories should regularly publish cumulative antimicrobial susceptibility testing data. There is widespread agreement that cumulative antibiogram reports should be prepared and incorporated into hospital infection control policies.