2011 CHINET surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa across China

Objective To investigate the antimicrobial resistance of P.aeruginosa clinical isolates across China during 2011.Methods Clinical isolates of P.aeruginosa were collected from 15 teaching hospitals across China.Antimicrobial susceptibility were tested by Kirby-Bauer method or automated systems.The data were analyzed by WHONET 5.6 software.Results Of the 6 012 clinical P.aeruginosa isolates,92.9% were isolated from hospitalized patients,and 73.7% were from respiratory tract.The P.aeruginosa isolates showed the lowest resistance rate(14.3%) to amikacin.More than 30% of the P.aeruginosa strains were resistant to most of the antimicrobial agents tested in the hospital where P.aeruginosa strains showed the highest resistance.In the hospital where P.aeruginosa strains showed the lowest resistance,less than 20% of the P.aeruginosa strains were resistant to most of the antimicrobial agents.Less than 17% of the P.aeruginosa strains were resistant to any of the antimicrobial agents tested in the two Children's Hospitals.Less than 25% of the P.aeruginosa strains isolated from outpatients were resistant to any of the antimicrobial agents tested.More than 23% of the P.aeruginosa strains isolated from ICU were resistant to any of the antimicrobial agents tested excep amikacin(16.1%).The prevalence of panresistant P.aeruginosa strains was 1.8%.Conclusions The antimicrobial resistance of P.aeruginosa is still a serious problem across China.The resistance rates to most antimicrobial agents remain stable from 2008 to 2011.The antimicrobial susceptibility pattern varies with geographic region,hospital,and department.Antimicrobial resistance surveillance is very important for rational antimicrobial therapy.