Background and Aim : Hospital-acquired infections, particularly in the intensive care units(ICUs), are becoming more frequent past several years, with Gram-negative bacterial infectionspresenting the highest incidence and eventually ending in long hospitalization. Among variouspathogens,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa and
Acinetobacter baumannii are the most common bacteriain ICUs either due to their survival ability or usage of device and invasive procedures. Increasinguse of antibiotics is also the likely main reason for the evolution of antibiotic-resistant P.aeruginosa and A.baumannii outbreaks in these clinical settings. We aimed at to observe thefrequency of both these bacteria in various ICUs separately and assess the demographic andmicrobiological features associated with them in two and half years of time period to devisestrategies to minimize their spread in the hospital wards.Methods : We conducted this retrospective investigation from January ۲۰۲۰ to July ۲۰۲۲ in ICUscomprising burn, infectious, general ۱ and ۲, toxicology and surgery ICUs. Patients andmicrobiological records were studied and analyzed for the presence of P. aeruginosa and A.baumannii and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern using software WHONET programme.Results : Year ۲۰۲۰ observed high frequency of A.baumannii in the general ICU ۱ compared toothers. On an average the frequency of A.baumannii was ۶۱% and P. aeruginosa being ۴۰%.Majority of A.baumannii were resistant to ciprofloxacin, ceftazidime, amikacin and meropenem,while P. aeruginosa retained high resistant to ciprofloxacin. In year ۲۰۲۱, the frequency ofA.baumannii was more in general ICU ۲ followed by surgery and infectious ICU (۶۷% each)while, P. aeruginosa was isolated more from general ICU ۱ and burns (۶۴%). Turning ofA.baumannii to carbapenem resistant was a considerable feature. Though P. aeruginosa revealedantibiotic resistance towards all therapeutic agents however, all isolates from each ICUs showedhigh ciprofloxacin resistance. In year ۲۰۲۲, high gentamicin resistance was evident in P.aeruginosa in all the ICUs while emergence of extensive drug resistant (XDR) A. baumannii wasa distinctive feature in burns ICU.Conclusion : Increasing prevalence of P. aeruginosa and A.baumannii highlights their nosocomialnature and compel introduction of strict infection control strategies. Emergence of XDRA.baumannii in burns ICU had a clinical meaningful impact.