Search

Hospital acquired infections greatly affect recovery and survival in pediatric surgical patients. We evaluated prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of ESKAPE pathogens in neonates and infants subjected to cardiac surgery in a tertiary hospital in Central Kazakhstan between 2019 and 2023 (2,278 patients) using routine methods of microbiological detection. ESKAPE pathogens were found in 1,899 out of 2,957 samples (Staphylococcus aureus – 35.3%, Klebsiella pneumoniae – 27.8%, Acinetobacter baumannii – 14.5%, Pseudomonas aeruginosa – 12.4%, Enterobacter sp. – 8.8%, Enterococcus faecium – 1.2%). The total prevalence of ESKAPE increased significantly from 45.1 to 76.9% (P = 0.005) during the study period. The resistance significantly increased in methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA, from 13.7 to 41.9%, P = 0.041) but decreased in carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa (from 64.3 to 37.7%, P = 0.037) and carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (from 48.5 to 19.1%, P = 0.039). Gradual but non-significant changes were shown in third-generation cephalosporin resistant K. pneumoniae (from 63.6 to 45.2%) and carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae (from 0 to 8.3%). The relative prevalence of ESKAPE pathogens steadily increased in our pediatric cardiac surgery patients in 2019–2023. The most frequent were S. aureus , K. pneumoniae , and A. baumannii , with dramatically increasing tendencies for MRSA. Our results highlight the necessity for a well-designed infection control strategy and constant microbiological monitoring in pediatric cardiac surgery departments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Salud, Ciencia y Tecnología is the property of Fundacion Salud, Ciencia y Tecnologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)