Acinetobacter species-associated infections and their antibiotic susceptibility profiles in Malaysia

Forty clinical isolates of Acinetobacter species were collected from Selayang hospital, Selangor, Malaysia. Thirty-nine percent of the isolates were identified from respiratory tract followed by urine (19%) and pus (18%). All the isolates were re-identified and confirmed as Acinetobacter species in our laboratory. The antibiotic susceptibility profiles of all the isolates were determined using Kibry-Bauer disk diffusion method as recommended by CLSI. Aminoglycosides (gentamicin) was found to be the most active antimicrobial agent with 47.5% susceptibility followed by amikacin (45%) and 30% to the beta-lactams (imipenem, ceftazidime). Meropenem showed the maximum resistance (92.5%) followed by piperacillin (77.5%) and ampicillin (75%). It was also found that 5% of the Acinetobacter strains were resistant to one antibiotic, 10% strains were resistant to two antibiotics and 85% strains were multidrug resistant. Acinetobacter spp isolated from respiratory tract, urine and pus showed the highest rate of multidrug resistance.