Antibiotic Resistance Profiles of Bacteria Isolated from Patients Hospitalized at the Sylvanus Olympio University Teaching Hospital in Lomé, Togo

Aims: Bacteria isolated from hospitalized patients are often responsible for healthcare-associated infections (HAI), particularly in developing countries. Thus, this study aimed to determine the antibiotic resistance profiles of bacteria isolated from patients hospitalized at the Sylvanus Olympio University Teaching Hospital (CHUSO) in Lomé, Togo.

Study Design: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out on laboratory data collected from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2019.

Methodology: The Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method was used for antibiotic susceptibility testing and the results were interpreted according to the guidelines of the Antibiogram Committee of the French Society of Microbiology (CA-SFM, 2018).

Results: A total of 639 samples were collected, including mainly pus (n = 339; 53.1%) and urine (n = 260; 40.7%). The samples were mainly from pediatrics (n=107; 16.7%), intensive care units (n=73; 11.4%) and surgical emergencies (n=72; 11.3%). A total of 698 bacteria were isolated, including mainly Escherichia coli (n=247, 35.4%), Staphylococcus aureus (n=123, 17.6%), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=114, 16.3%). Enterobacteriaceae strains were resistant to almost all antibiotics tested, except amikacin and ertapenem, which had respective resistance rates of 2.8% and 8.4%. None of the P. aeruginosa strains were resistant to piperacillin-tazobactam. whereas 37.9% were resistant to imipenem. Among A. baumannii strains, 4.2% and 22.9% were respectively resistant to amikacin and imipenem, whereas 56.3% were resistant to levofloxacin. Almost all S. aureus strains (99.2%) were resistant to penicillin, whereas only 2.4% were resistant to rifampicin. Of the 698 bacteria isolated, the prevalence of multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDR) was 41.3% (n = 288), whereas the prevalence of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae was 51.3% (201/392).

Conclusion: We reported various resistance profiles of bacterial species isolated from hospitalized patients at the CHU Sylvanus Olympio, Lomé, Togo. The study of bacterial ecology and resistance in every prefectural, regional, and university teaching hospital would be of great importance to reduce mortality associated with hospital-acquired infections throughout the Togolese territory.