Abstract

Nosocomial infections are recognized as a global public health issue, with causative bacteria often exhibiting high levels of antibiotic resistance. However, there is a paucity of data on multidrug-resistant bacteria in nosocomial infections in Niger. This study aimed to determine the antibiotic sensitivity of bacteria isolated from specimens of patients suffering from nosocomial infections. Samples collected from patients meeting the case definition for nosocomial infections, including pus, blood, and urine, were cultured in the hospital's microbiology laboratory following established standard operating procedures. Bacterial isolation and identification were carried out before conducting antibiotic sensitivity testing using the BioMérieux VITEK®2 method. A total of 386 isolates were examined, with Escherichia coli representing 61.4%, Klebsiella species 23.8%, and Proteus mirabilis only 0.25%. E. coli exhibited a high level of resistance reaching 96.20% to ceftriaxone, but susceptible to 92.83% to meropenem. Klebsiella species also showed high resistance level to antibiotics, including 90% to piperacillin but susceptible to 95.66% to meropenem. Staphylococcus aureus demonstrated 82.95% resistance to ciprofloxacin but remained susceptible to fusidic acid (82.64%). Notably, the major pathogens also produced extended-spectrum beta-lactamase at rates of 21.94, 44.44 and 42.39% for E. coli, Enterobacter, and Klebsiella, respectively. The antibiotic sensitivity testing revealed resistance and co-resistance to many antibiotics, posing significant therapeutic challenges and necessitating the use of carbapenems, considered the last line of therapy against some multidrug-resistant bacteria in the hospital. Therefore, there is a critical need to reactivate the nosocomial infection control committee, and the implementation of antimicrobial surveillance practices is highly recommended.

Key words: Nosocomial infections, antibiotic susceptibility pattern, bacterial isolates, Niamey, Niger.