Antimicrobial Resistance Prevalence Rates in Hospital Antibiograms Reflect Prevalence Rates among Pathogens Associated with Hospital-Acquired Infections

• Published in: Clinical infectious diseases 2001-08, Vol.33 (3), p.324-329
• Main Authors: Fridkin, Scott K., Edwards, Jonathan R., Tenover, Fred C., Gaynes, Robert P., McGowan, John E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antibacterial agents; Antibiotic resistance; Antibiotics. Antiinfectious agents. Antiparasitic agents; Antimicrobials; Biological and medical sciences; Cross Infection - epidemiology; Cross Infection - microbiology; Drug Resistance, Microbial; Epidemiologic Measurements; Hospital units; Humans; Infections; Intensive care units; Intensive Care Units - statistics & numerical data; Major Articles; Medical sciences; Microbial sensitivity tests; Pathogens; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Prevalence; Reporting systems; Staphylococcus; Surveillance
• ISSN: 1058-4838; 1537-6591
• DOI: 10.1086/321893

To determine whether routine antibiograms (summaries reporting resistance of all tested isolates) reflect resistance rates among pathogens associated with hospital-acquired infections, we compared data collected from 2 different surveillance components in the same 166 intensive care units (ICUs). ICUs reported data during the same months to both the infection-based surveillance and the laboratory-based surveillance. Paired comparisons of the percentage of isolates resistant were made between systems within each ICU. No significant differences existed (P > .05) between the percentage of isolates resistant from the infection-based system and laboratory-based system for all antimicrobial-resistant organisms studied, except methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus species. The mean difference in percentage resistance was higher from the infection-based system than the laboratory-based system for S. aureus (mean difference, +8%, P < .001) and coagulase-negative staphylococci (mean difference, +9%, P < .001). Overall, hospital antibiograms reflected susceptibility patterns among isolates associated with hospital-acquired infections. Hospital antibiograms may underestimate the relative frequency of methicillin resistance among Staphylococcus species when associated with hospital-acquired infections.