Objectives: A retrospective study was conducted in the Bone Marrow Transplant Center of Tunisia during a period of 10 years
(from 2002 to 2011) in order to report the prevalence of infectious multi-drug resistant bacteria.
Methods: Bacterial identification was carried on the basis of biochemical characteristics and API identification systems. Antibiotic susceptibility was tested by disc diffusion method on Muller-Hinton agar.
Results: During the study period, 34.5% of 142
Klebsiella pneumoniae
strains and 11.46% of 218
Escherichia coli
strains were extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producers. Also, 32.8% of 210 strains of
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
were imipenem and/or
ceftazidime resistant and 20.75% of 106 strains of
Staphylococcus aureus
were methicillin resistant. A rising trend was observed for
the prevalence of the selected multidrug resistant bacteria.
Conclusion: These findings may have important clinical implications in prophylaxis and selection of antibiotic treatment. Continuous surveillance is needed, especially for onco-hematological patients.
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v19i2.25
Cite as: Mechergui A, Achour W, Mathlouthi S, Hassen AB. Prevalence of infectious multi-drug resistant bacteria isolated from immunocompromised patients in Tunisia. Afri Health Sci.2019;19(2): 2021-2025. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v19i2.25 
