Objective: Describe and compare the frequency of bacterial resistance phenotypes of microorganisms obtained from patients in intensive care units (ICU) and other (non-ICU) high-complexity public and private hospital services in Colombia.
Methods: A retrospective observational, analytical, multicenter study was conducted. The records from January 2007 to December 2009 on bacterial isolates and bacterial resistance phenotypes of microorganisms obtained from ICU and non-ICU patients in 79 high-complexity public and private hospitals were consolidated. The information was analyzed with the WHONET(®) 5.5 (WHO) software, following the 2009 recommendations of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, and summarized on an Excel(®) spreadsheet. A descriptive analysis with the calculation of proportions was performed. The trends were analyzed with Spearman rank correlation.
Results: The 2007-2009 trends for bacterial resistance phenotypes show increased percentages of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, imipenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, ciprofloxacin-resistant K. pneumoniae, ceftazidime-resistant Escherichia coli and cefotaxime-resistant Enterobacter cloacae (r = 1, P < 0.01), and reduced percentages of ciprofloxacin-resistant E. coli, ceftazidime-resistant K. pneumoniae, oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, ceftazidime-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and ciprofloxacin-resistant P. aeruginosa (r = -1, P < 0.01).
Conclusions: The trend analysis presented in this study is the baseline for establishing a national epidemiological surveillance subsystem. The trends observed reveal that bacterial resistance to antimicrobial drugs in hospitals in Colombia is a dynamic phenomenon, with evidence of the emergence of vancomycin-resistant E. faecium and imipenem-resistant K. pneumoniae phenotypes in the hospitals.