Prevalence of antibacterial resistance among hospitalized patients in Tigray, Ethiopia, 2021: A cross-sectional design

Migbnesh Gebremedhin Weledegebriel; Afewerki Tesfahunegn Nigusse; Hansa Haftu; Haylay Gebremeskel; Bisrat Tesfay Abera; Merhawit Atsbeha; Araya Gebreyesus Wasihun; Edris Ebrahim Edris; Kibra Hailu; Ephrem Solomon; Abrha Bsrat Hailu

doi:10.1016/j.ijregi.2024.100477

Prevalence of antibacterial resistance among hospitalized patients in Tigray, Ethiopia, 2021: A cross-sectional design

IJID Reg. 2024 Oct 24:13:100477. doi: 10.1016/j.ijregi.2024.100477. eCollection 2024 Dec.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia.
² Department of Epidemiology, College of Health of Science, Mekelle University, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia.
³ Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, College of Health Science, Mekelle University, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia.
⁴ Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, College of Health Science, Mekelle University, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia.
⁵ Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Mekelle University, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia.
⁶ Legehar General Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
⁷ College of Veterinary Sciences, Mekelle University, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia.

Abstract

Objectives: To describe the prevalence of antibacterial resistance among hospitalized patients in Tigray.

Methods: A cross-sectional study design was applied in hospitalized septic medical patients in Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital from March 2020 to January 2021. Socio-demographic, clinical, and laboratory-related data was collected, and descriptive analysis was done to present the result.

Results: In this study, a total of 153 hospitalized septic patients were included with a median age of 30 years (interquartile range 22-49). A total of 187 different samples were collected from 153 participants of the blood and foci of infection, and bacterial isolates were found in 103 (55%) samples. A total of 70 (45.6%) septic patients showed antibacterial resistance at least to one antibiotic. The most common isolates were Klebsiella pneumonia, followed by Escherichia coli and Acinetobacter species with equal distribution. These isolates were found to be resistant to ampicillin (79.9%), cotrimoxazole (64.1%), and ciprofloxacin (64.1%).

Conclusions: This study revealed a significant problem of antibacterial resistance in the referral hospital. The most commonly prescribed and affordable antibiotics were found to be resistant. So, the hospital and the country as well are expected to minimize the magnitude of the problem through different antimicrobial resistance strategic stewardship initiatives.

Keywords: AMR prevalence; Antibacterial resistant; Sepsis; Tigray.