Nonfermenting gram-negative bacilli (nonfermenters) have emerged as important nosocomial pathogens causing opportunistic infections in immunocompromised hosts. These organisms show high level of resistance to β-lactam agents, fluoroquinolones and aminoglycosides. Imipenem is a carbapenem antibiotic, which can be very useful for treatment of infections caused by nonfermenters.
Eighty-five nonfermenters causing nosocomial UTI were tesed for MIC to imipenem by agar dilution method. Resistance to other antimicrobial agents was compared between imipenem sensitive (S) and resistance (R) groups.
Overall 36.4% of nonfermenters were resistant to imipenem. Forty two percent of
P. aeruginosa and 18.5% of
Acinetobacter baumanii
were imipenem resistant. Other nonfermenters showed variable resistance, resistance in
Alcaligenes
spp. being very high. More than 70% of the nonfermenters were resistant to ceftazidime, gentamicin and ciprofloxacin. Piperacillin and amikacin had the best invitro susceptibility.
No significant difference was found in the antibiotic susceptibility profile among imipenem sensitive (S) or resistant (R) strains.
