A compilation of antimicrobial susceptibility data from a network of 13 Lebanese hospitals reflecting the national situation during 2015-2016

• Published in: Antimicrobial resistance & infection control 2019-02, Vol.8 (1), p.41-41, Article 41
• Main Authors: Moghnieh, Rima, Araj, Georges F, Awad, Lyn, Daoud, Ziad, Mokhbat, Jacques E, Jisr, Tamima, Abdallah, Dania, Azar, Nadim, Irani-Hakimeh, Noha, Balkis, Maher M, Youssef, Mona, Karayakoupoglou, Gilbert, Hamze, Monzer, Matar, Madonna, Atoui, Roula, Abboud, Edmond, Feghali, Rita, Yared, Nadine, Husni, Rola
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Antibacterial agents; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial agents; Antimicrobial susceptibility; Antimicrobial susceptibility testing; Bacteria; Brochures; Carbapenems - pharmacology; Cephalosporins; Cephalosporins - pharmacology; Comparative analysis; Disease; Disease control; Disease prevention; Drug resistance; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Enterobacteriaceae - classification; Enterobacteriaceae - drug effects; Epidemiology; Europe, Eastern; Gram-Negative Bacteria - classification; Gram-Negative Bacteria - drug effects; Gram-Positive Bacteria - classification; Gram-Positive Bacteria - drug effects; Health surveillance; Hospitals; Humans; Intelligence gathering; Laboratories; Lebanon; Lebanon - epidemiology; Methicillin; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Penicillins; Pneumonia; Population Surveillance; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Public health; Resistance; Retrospective Studies; Staphylococcus aureus infections; Streptococcus infections; Streptococcus pneumoniae; Studies; Surveillance; Vancomycin
• ISSN: 2047-2994; 2047-2994
• DOI: 10.1186/s13756-019-0487-5

There is a lack of official national antimicrobial resistance (AMR) data in Lebanon. Individual hospitals generate their own antibiotic susceptibility data in the form of yearly pamphlets. In this study, antibiotic susceptibility data from 13 hospitals distributed across different governorates of Lebanon were collected to conduct a compilation-based surveillance of AMR in Lebanon for the years 2015-2016. The findings were compared with those of a previous nationwide study in this country conducted between 2011 and 2013 as well as with similar data obtained from the 2015 and 2016 European surveillance reports of AMR. To provide a clear presentation of the AMR situation, mean percent susceptibility of different antibiotic-microbe combinations was calculated. During 2015-2016, the percent susceptibility of to third-generation cephalosporins and to carbapenems was 59 and 97%, respectively. Among and spp., carbapenem susceptibility reached 70 and 12%, respectively. Among Gram positive organisms, the percent susceptibility to methicillin in was 72%, that to vancomycin in spp. was 98% and that to penicillin in was 75%. Compared with results of 2011-2013, there was an overall trend of decreased susceptibility of bacteria to the tested antibiotics, with a variation of 5 to 10%. The antibiotic susceptibility data from Lebanon were found to be comparable with those from Eastern and South-eastern European countries. This study highlights the need to establish a robust national AMR surveillance system that enables data from Lebanon to be included in global AMR maps.