MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT PATHOGENS IN A ROMANIAN
INTENSIVE CARE UNIT – TRENDS AND AFFORDABLE COSTS
MONICA LICKER1,2, ROXANA MOLDOVAN1,3, ELENA HOGEA1,2*, DELIA MUNTEAN1, FLORIN HORHAT1,2, DOREL SANDESC2,5, CLAUDIU MACARIE2,5, MIHAELA CRĂCIUNESCU1, LUMINIȚA BĂDIȚOIU3,4
1“Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Microbiology, 1-2 Eftimie Murgu Square, Timișoara,
Romania
2“Pius Brânzeu” Emergency Clinical County Hospital, 10 I. Bulbuca Street, Timișoara, Romania
3National Institute of Public Health, Regional Centre of Public Health, 16 Victor Babeș Boulevard, Timișoara, Romania
4“Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Epidemiology, 1-2 Eftimie Murgu Square, Timișoara,
Romania
5“Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Intensive Care, 1-2 Eftimie Murgu Square, Timișoara,
Romania
*corresponding author: ehogea70@yahoo.com
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Abstract:
The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens is a major challenge in terms of treatment failure and increased
costs, especially for intensive care unit (ICU) patients. The objective of our study was to assess the incidence of MDR and
extensive drug resistant (XDR) strains isolated in a Romanian intensive care unit and to estimate the costs for antibacterial
medication during hospitalization. A prospective surveillance was conducted between January-October 2010 and January-
October 2012. From the 1,534 collected samples, there were isolated 1,001 bacterial non-repetitive, clinically relevant strains
from S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, A. baumanii species and Enterobacteriaceae family. Identification and sensitivity tests were
performed using the BioMerieux® VITEK 2 Compact automated microbiology system. Of the detected bacterial strains, 783
were Gram-negative (GNB) and 218 were Gram-positive bacteria (GPB). Eighty-eight patients (7.39% of the ICU patients)
were infected with MDR strains, totalizing 784 treatment days for infectious episodes. The average number of antimicrobial
treatment days/MDR-strains episodes was 9.11 days, with an average medication cost of 3,744 € per patient and an average
antibiotic therapy cost of 577.4 € per patient.






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