Volume :
3
Issue :
1
Abstract :
The widespread uses of antibiotics, together with the length of time over which they have been available have led to major problems of resistant organisms, contributing to morbidity and mortality. The emergence of multi-drug resistant organisms in hospitals results in difficulty to treat nosocomial infections. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the antimicrobial resistance patterns of bacterial isolates from patient’s health professionals and the hospital environments. Cross sectional study was conducted at the University of Gondar Hospital from November 2010 to February 2011. Two hundred twenty specimens of pus, nasal, hand and surfaces swabs were collected using sterile cotton tipped applicator stick moistened with sterile saline. Biochemical tests were done to confirm the species of the organisms. Sensitivity tests were performed using agar disc diffusion technique. Two hundred sixty eight bacterial pathogens were recovered from all the specimens processed. Most of the isolates, 142(52.9%) were from the environments. The rest, 77(28.8%) and 49(18.3%) were from health professionals and patients, respectively. Gram-negative rods were resistant to ampicillin 72(90%), cotrimoxazole, 68 (85%), doxycycline, 66 (82.5%), tetracycline, 63(78.8%), chloramphenicol, 48 (60%), nalidixic acid, 46 (57.5%) and gentamicin, 38 (47.5%). S. aureus demonstrated high level of resistance to nalidixic acid and tetracycline while, ceftriaxone and ciprofloxacin were found to be relatively effective. Single as well as multiple antimicrobial resistances to the antimicrobials tested was alarmingly high. It is imperative that all professionals should take an active role in infection control within their organization and more resources should be provided to encourage good antibiotic practice and good hygiene in hospitals.