Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of bacteria at the Makassed General Hospital in Lebanon.

Bacterial resistance to various antimicrobial agents is most common in areas with high usage of antibiotics such as in countries where over-the-counter availability promotes usage. In Lebanon, information about bacterial resistance to antimicrobial agents is limited. In this study, data on the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns have been collected for the last 7 years in addition to the first 6 months of 1996 at the Makassed General Hospital in Lebanon. Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas species proved to have high but variable rates of multidrug resistance. Among Staphylococcus aureus isolates, 17% were resistant to methicillin. A high percentage of resistance to penicillin (76-88%) was noted among Streptococcus pneumoniae. These resistance patterns were generally comparable with those of other medical centres.