| dc.description.abstract | This study determined the prevalence of colistin resistance among Gram-negative rod-
shaped bacteria isolated from various units of Mulago National Referral Hospital. It
determined the susceptibility patterns of the organisms using colistin pre- diffusion
method and plasmid mediated resistance of mcr gene using Ethylenediaminetetraacetic
acid test method. The study informs on the clinical practices that will help mitigate
colistin resistance. Knowing the prevalence of colistin resistance will inform infection
control practices and need of novel antibiotics to avoid a problematic post antibiotic
era. The study was conducted at the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory under the
College of Health Sciences, Makerere University using a retrospective observational
design of 114 samples, archived in 2021 comprising of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella
pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii. Most of the
samples analyzed were from Intensive care unit, 48.2% with tracheal aspirates
constituting 61.8%. The other units included pediatric, dialysis, surgical and medical
wards unit. Additional units including Out-patient department and the private wing
were also included. Surgical wards unit contributed most pus swabs, 50.0%.
Escherichia coli, 42.0% and Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, 5% contributed the highest and
the lowest number of isolates respectively. The overall resistance of the isolates to
colistin observed in this study was 6.1%. There were no isolates with indeterminate
patterns (not exactly known or defined). E coli had the highest percentage of resistance,
57.1%. There was no resistance observed in the Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
samples suggesting that all isolate did not have mcr genes. From this study, it can be
concluded that there is resistance to the last resort antibiotics such as colistin. This has
to be managed both locally and on a global scale. This study recommends the
development of antibiotics to avoid a problematic post antibiotic era. | en_US |
