A decade of antimicrobial susceptibilities at the University of Kentucky Hospital.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the antimicrobial susceptibility rates for key antimicrobial agents and selective bacterial pathogens in the decade of the 1990s.


METHODS
Data from 1990 to 2000 from the University of Kentucky Clinical Microbiology Laboratory were analyzed by linear regression analysis to identify agents and pathogens that show a decline in susceptibility. For selected pathogens and antimicrobial agents, predictions were made for further declines in susceptibility for 2005 and 2010.


RESULTS
Significant declines in susceptibility to selected antimicrobial agents were found for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Further declines were predicted for 2005 and 2010.


CONCLUSIONS
Examination of susceptibility rates over time in a university hospital medical center provides useful data for future planning. In our institution, antimicrobial susceptibility rates have significantly declined during the 1990s for certain antimicrobial agents and bacterial pathogens. We are attempting to change our antimicrobial use patterns through formulary manipulation and clinician education, which may retard or prevent such declines in the future.
Rapp
Robert P
RP
College of Pharmacy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0082, USA. rprapp01@pop.uky.edu
Ribes
Julie A
JA
Overman
Sue B
SB
Darkow
Theodore E
TE
Evans
Martin E
ME
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D006785:Hospitals, University; D007629:Kentucky; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents