Prevalence of Acinetobacter Species Isolated from Clinical Samples Referred to Al-Kafeel Hospital, Iraq and Their Antibiotic Susceptibility Patterns from 2017-2021

Background and Objective: Acinetobacter has been considered an important nosocomial pathogen since 1970. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of Acinetobacter infection during 2017-2021, study the antibiogram of these bacteria, and study the impact of gender on infection. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study in which data of the clinical samples received in Al-Kafeel Hospital, Kerbala, Iraq, between April 2017 and February 2021 were searched for Acinetobacter infection and their antibiotic susceptibility testing. Results: The prevalence of Acinetobacter infection was 9.2% of cases. Male to Female ratio was 3:1, and there was a significant difference in Acinetobacter infection regarding gender. There were high resistance rates to major antibiotic classes. Maximum resistance was recorded for Amoxicillin (100%), followed by 3rd generation cephalosporins, including Cefotaxime (92.3%), Ceftriaxone (91.6%), Ceftazidime (91.3%), Cefixime (80%); in addition to growing resistance to carbapenems, Imipenem (42.8%) and Meropenem (62.2%). The lowest resistance rates were found to colistin sulfate (10%). There 80.7% of the isolates were multidrug-resistant MDR. Conclusion: Acinetobacter spp., is considered as fast emerging opportunistic agents with evolving drug resistance. Rationale use of antibiotics is important and necessary to prevent microbial resistance. Gender is considered a risk factor for Acinetobacter infection.