Objectives:

To determine the frequency and antibiotic susceptibility of Acinetobacter strains in blood cultures in Turkish children.

Methods:

Blood culture results of children who had been admitted to Children's Hospital at Ankara University Medical School in 1992–2002 were retrospectively reviewed. Antibiotic susceptibility of Acinetobacter strains was determined by disc diffusion method. Intermediate-resistant strains were considered as resistant.

Results:

Seventy-six of 1269 (6%) blood cultures were positive for Acinetobacter strains. Acinetobacter strains constituted 13.8% of blood cultures positive for all Gram-negative organisms. Acinetobacter baumannii (68 strains) was the most common serotype followed by A. lwoffii (seven strains) and A. haemolyticus (one strain).

Antibiotic susceptibilities of all Acinetobacter strains were as follows: ampicillin 30%, ampicillin–sulbactam 78%, amoxicillin–clavulanate 70%, piperacillin 66%, piperacillin–tazobactam 88%, cephalothin 14%, cefuroxime 39%, cefixime 42%, ceftriaxone 31%, ceftazidime 46%, cefotaxime 53%, cefoperazone 50%, cefoperazone–sulbactam 81%, cefepime 71%, aztreonam 44%, imipenem 100%, meropenem 100%, ciprofloxacin 93%, ofloxacin 90%, amikacin 86%, gentamicin 85%, netilmicin 76%, tobramycin 72%, and trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole 64%.

Conclusions:

Carbapenems, fluoroquinolones, piperacillin–tazobactam and cefoperazone–sulbactam are the most effective agents against Acinetobacter strains isolated in blood cultures of children in our hospital. The results of our study demonstrate that antibiotic resistance is an important problem for Acinetobacter infections in Turkey.