THE PREVALENCE AND ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY PATTERN OF GRAM-NEGATIVEBACTERIAL ISOLATES IN 2 ICU IN SAUDI-ARABIA AND KUWAIT

In surveys of the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of consecutive Gram-negative bacterial isolates in two intensive care uni ts (ICUs) in Saudi Arabia (Jeddah) and Kuwait, 106 and 101 isolates, r espectively, were analyzed. The most common bacterial isolates in Jedd ah versus Kuwait ICUs were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (26%, 26%), Escheric hia coli (23%, 3%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (20%, 17%), inducible Entero bacteraecae group (17%, 14%), and Acinetobacter spp. (9%, 33%). Overal l, about 99% of all isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin in both centers, whereas 87 and 96% were susceptible to imipenem, 69 and 64% to ceftazidime, 59 and 52% to cefotaxime, and 25 and 67% to piperacill in, respectively, in Jeddah and Kuwait. Prior antibiotic usage was mor e common among patients in Jeddah than in Kuwait. Dominant features of the study in Jeddah were the E. coli and Klebsiella spp. demonstratin g multiresistance to monobactams, cephems, and all three aminoglycosid es, and evidence of two classes of resistance to beta-lactam antibioti cs which were not seen among the Kuwaiti isolates. The Kuwaiti Pseudom onas spp. were more senstive to imipenem than the Jeddah Pseudomonas s pp. (100% versus 68%). The higher number of resistant bacteria seen in Jeddah than Kuwaiti may be a reflection of the higher antibiotic cons umption, in particular higher usage of broad spectrum cephalosporins i n Jeddah ICU. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.