Comprehensive surveillance of antimicrobial susceptibility across adult and pediatric populations in Catalonia: Insights from community, hospital, and long-term care facility settings.

BACKGROUND

This study presents comprehensive data on antimicrobial susceptibility across healthcare settings and age groups in Catalonia, Spain.

METHODS

Susceptibility data were collected from 37 microbiology laboratories between 2020 and 2022 for community-acquired infections (CAIs), and 2021 and 2022 for hospital and long-term care facilities (LTCFs). Susceptibility was calculated based on the proportion of susceptible strains among the total strains.

RESULTS

Pediatrics: Community-acquired infections (CAIs): in urinary tract infections (UTIs), extended-spectrum beta-lactamase production (ESBL-P) Escherichia coli was 3.8%. Streptococcus pneumoniae was highly susceptible to penicillins (97.5%). Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was 6.8%. Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs): ESBL-P in E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae were 6.7% and 9.4%. Carbapenem resistance in Enterobacter cloacae complex was less than 1%. Extremely drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa was 1.6%.

ADULTS: CAIs: In UTIs, E. coli showed high susceptibility to fosfomycin (>95%) and 9% of ESBL-P. In respiratory tract infections, Streptococcus pyogenes exhibited reduced susceptibility to macrolides (67%) and clindamycin (75.1%), while Haemophilus influenzae and S. pneumoniae remained susceptible to penicillins (78% and 96%). HAIs: E. coli showed 12.8% of ESBL-P and K. pneumoniae 20%. Carbapenem resistance was mainly identified in E. cloacae (2.8%) and K. pneumoniae (2.2%). P. aeruginosa showed high susceptibility to meropenem (87%). Methicillin-resistance was detected in 22% of S. aureus. Long-term care facilities (LTCFs): E. coli causing UTI was highly susceptible to carbapenems (99%), nitrofurantoin (96%), and fosfomycin (93%) with 25.8% of ESBL-P. K. pneumoniae showed 40% ESBL-P and 2.9% of carbapenem resistance. P. aeruginosa exhibited decreased susceptibility to quinolones (69.5%) and highly susceptibility to meropenem (88.5%).

CONCLUSION

The data underscore the necessity of stratified susceptibility reports by setting, type of infection, and age.