Changing Face of Antimicrobial Resistance: A Cross-Sectional Study Rawezh Salih, Berun A. Abdalla, Ayman M. Mustafa, Khanda A. Anwar, Abdullah Dler Ahmad, Wafa A. Hamadameen, Hidayat Anwar yaseen, Hawnaz S. Abdullah and 7 more Introduction Infections of sterile body fluids are significant contributors to mortality and morbidity. Accurate species-level identification and understanding of the antimicrobial resistance profiles are crucial for selecting appropriate antimicrobials for empirical and targeted therapy. This study aims to examine… 2024 835 reads 2 citations doi:10.58742/bmj.v2i3.117 Full text PDF XML Read abstract — read the abstract for Changing Face of Antimicrobial Resistance: A Cross-Sectional Study Original Articles Changing Face of Antimicrobial Resistance: A Cross-Sectional Study Rawezh Salih, Berun A. Abdalla, Ayman M. Mustafa, Khanda A. Anwar, Abdullah Dler Ahmad, Wafa A. Hamadameen, Hidayat Anwar yaseen, Hawnaz S. Abdullah and 7 more IntroductionInfections of sterile body fluids are significant contributors to mortality and morbidity. Accurate species-level identification and understanding of the antimicrobial resistance profiles are crucial for selecting appropriate antimicrobials for empirical and targeted therapy. This study aims to examine the distribution of various bacterial species and their evolved antimicrobial resistance profiles isolated from different body fluids. MethodsThis retrospective study evaluated 301 body fluid samples collected at a tertiary hospital between January 2023 and December 2023. Samples were gram-stained and cultured on an appropriate media. Bacterial identification and susceptibility testing were performed using the BD Phoenix™ system, with disk diffusion method used for antibiotics not available in the system. ResultsMicrobial growth was detected in 151 cases (50.2%), with a comparable prevalence among males and females (53.0% vs. 46.7%). The mean age was 49.81± 24.1 years. Growth rates were slightly higher in hospital-acquired infections (55.7%) than in community-acquired infections (49.2%). Cerebrospinal fluid showed the highest growth rate at 34.3%. Among the isolates, Streptococcus species were the most common (14.6%), while Escherichia coli was the predominant Gram-negative bacterium (13.2%). Sensitivity was highest with tigecycline (100%) and meropenem (92%), whereas resistance was most notable against ampicillin-sulbactam (100%) and azithromycin (95.2%). Multidrug resistance was identified in 106 isolates (70.2%). ConclusionHigh antibiotic resistance and multidrug-resistant strains underscore the need for rigorous antibiotic stewardship and improved infection control to address untreatable infections. Keywords Body fluids · Bacteria · Antimicrobial resistance · Prevalence · Multidrug resistance All subjects Barw Medical Journal. 2024;2(4) Read the article PDF XML