Abstract:
This study was conducted in Khartoum State during the period from
November 2008 to April 2009 to evaluate the in vitro activity of relatively
newly used anti-microbial agents (piperacillin, azlocillin, imipenem and
meropenem) against Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates. Seventy )70)
P. aeruginosa clinical isolates were collected from different hospitals in
Khartoum State including Khartoum Teaching Hospital, Police Hospital and
the National Health Laboratory. The isolates were confirmed by
microscopic, cultural and biochemical testing. Their specimens included 30
urine specimens (42.9 %), 26 infected wound swabs (37.1 %) and 14
infected ear swabs (20 %). Fifty (50) of the patients were males (71.4 %),
while 20 were females (28.6 %). Patients ages ranging from 1-75 years and
26 of them belonged to the age group 61-75 years (37.1i%). The most
effective antibiotics against P. aeruginosa was imipenem which was
effective against all isolates, followed by meropenem with rate of 97.1 %,
piperacillin with efficacy rate of 74.3 % and the least effective one was
azlocillin with efficacy rate of 70 %. These results indicated that imipenem
was better than meropenem in carbapenems β-lactam antibiotics and
piperacillin was better than azlocillin in ureidopenicillins β-lactam
antibiotics. Carbapenems β-lactam antibiotics were found significantly
(P=0.01) more effective than ureidopenicillins β-lactam antibiotics against
P. aeruginosa, with mean activity of 98.6 % and 72.2 %, respectively. While
there was no multi-drug resistant P. aeruginosa (MDRPA) isolated in this
study, there were 47 (67 %) of the isolates sensitive to all antimicrobials
used and 18 (26 %) of them were sensitive only to carbapenem antibiotics.
