Drug-resistant bacteria on hands of healthcare workers and in the patient area: an environmental survey in Southern Italy's hospital

Background. The WHO recognized antimicrobial resistance as a growing global health threat with a wide variability across Europe: in Italy these rates are higher than in other countries. The aim of our study was to detect antimicrobial resistance on the hands of healthcare workers and on surfaces around the patient, to assess the variability between levels of bacterial contamination on these surfaces and to compare the results with those achieved six years ago. Material and methods. The study was conducted from June 2017 to May 2018 using contact slides for surfaces and active sampling for air. We used automated biochemical methods to identify microorganisms; antibiograms were performed in compliance with the EUCAST expert rules. Results. We analyzed 3,760 samples, 16.17% were found positive and 34 % of these were antimicrobial-resistant. On analyzing the isolated Staphylococci, 39% were multidrug-resistant and 5% extensively drug-resistant. A 30% of the Enterococcus faecalis isolates were resistant to gentamycin and vancomycin. We found Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates resistant to ceftriaxone, cefoxitin, mecillinam and imipenem. A 7% and 8% of the Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates, respectively, were resistant to gentamicin, imipenem, and ceftazidime Conclusions. These findings are in line with the international literature, confirming that antimicrobial resistance is also steadily growing in Italy with rates varied for the different pathogens.