Characteristics and Evolution of Microbial Drug Resistance in Burnt Patients

Wound infection is a serious complication in burnt injury, which is a common form of trauma and an important public health issue. We investigated samples from burn and non-burn wounds for microbial characteristics and temporal trends of antibiotic resistance. Wound samples were collected from 369 burnt patients and 927 non-burnt individuals admitted from 2007 to 2017. Higher frequency of A. baumannii, K. pneumonia and P. aeruginosa were observed in samples from burnt individuals when compared to those from non-burnt patients. The prevalence of different groups of bacteria varied when the samples were stratified according to age and sex. The antimicrobial resistance profiles showed significant difference between burnt and non-burnt patients. The different temporal trends of antimicrobial resistance rates were also found, which may be critical for proper selection of antibiotics in burn treatment. The present study suggested that frequent pathogens and antibacterial resistance evolution could differ between burn wounds and other wounds. Therefore, periodic surveillance of antibiotic resistance patterns in burn unit might help physicians properly select of antibiotics for treatment.