Prevalence of ‘Superbugs’, the Carbapenem Resistant Gram Negative Organisms in a Tertiary Care Hospital

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Bacterial resistance to antibiotics has beena recognized reality almost since the dawn of the antibioticera, but only within the past twenty years has the emergenceof dangerous, resistant strains occurred with a disturbingregularity. Objective: Prevalence of carbapenem resistantGram negative organisms in a tertiary care hospital of NorthIndia.Material and methods: Various clinical specimens collectedfrom indoor and OPD were processed. Identification of theGram negative organisms and carbapenem resistance wasdone by standard bacteriological techniques. All isolates weredetected for carbapenemase production by Carba NP test.Results: Out of 1670 samples, 935 (55.99%) were found to beculture positive of which 485 (51.87%) were Gram negativebacteria. The prevalence of carbapenemase producing Gramnegative bacteria was 58 (11.96%).Conclusion: Determing carbapenem resistance pattern andconfirmation of carbapenemase production can improviseupon the usage of antimicrobials which will further help inreducing the burden of antimicrobial resistance.