Surveillance of antimicrobial resistance among Gram-negative isolates fromintensive care units in eight hospitals in Turkey

With the participation of eight major reference hospitals in Turkey, 749 ae robic Gram-negative isolates obtained from 473 intensive care patients in 1 997 were tested for their susceptibility to 13 commonly employed antibacter ial agents. The frequency with which species were isolated and resistance r ates were compared with data from the previous 2 years. Imipenem was the mo st active agent against the majority of isolates (75%), followed by ciprofl oxacin, cefepime and amikacin. The per cent susceptibility to all antibioti cs declined from 1995 to 1996. With the exception of imipenem, for which th ere was no change in resistance, the per cent susceptibility somewhat incre ased in 1997. However, it was still lower than in 1995.