NEW DELHI: A survey carried out by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to determine the trend in antibiotic resistance across the country has shown that Acinetobacter baumannii, a gram-negative bacteria known to cause infection in the blood, urinary tract and lungs among others, is resistant to high-end antibiotics.
According to the ICMR report, the survey found 87.5% samples of Acinetobacter baumannii tested in 2021 were resistant to carbapenems, which is a high-end antibiotic. This, researchers said, limited the treatment option in individuals suffering from infection caused by the bacteria. “Susceptibility to minocycline — a tetracycline antibiotic — was close to 50% making it the most susceptible antibiotic after colistin for Acinetobacter baumannii,” it added.
The report compiled data from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021. Total number of culture-positive isolates studied was 95,728. ICMR said Escherichia coli — a type of bacteria that normally lives in intestines — was the most commonly isolated pathogen followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus.
“Imipenem susceptibility of E coli has dropped steadily from 86% in 2016 to 64% in 2021 and that of Klebsiella pneumoniae dropped steadily from 65% in 2016 to 45% in 2020 and was at 43% for the year 2021,” the report says.
There has been no significant change in the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Salmonella Typhi — gram-negative bacterium responsible for typhoid fever — from India and the pattern remaining uniform across all participating centres in the AMR network. “S. Typhi is 100 % susceptible to cephalosporins and azithromycin,” researchers said.
