Antimicrobial resistance patterns of bacterial pathogens their distribution in university teaching hospitals in Zambia.

Aim: To determine the antimicrobial resistance patterns of bacterial pathogens from urine, blood and wound infections and their distribution by age, sex and location. Materials & methods: A total of 49,168 samples were collected, processed and analyzed. Results: Multidrug resistance was observed in almost all bacterial pathogens in blood urine and wound swabs. In urine and females odds ratio (OR) = 0.864, p = 0.023, OR = 0.909, p = 0.013 urine and neonates were susceptible to antibiotics OR = 0.859, p = 0.003, OR = 0.741, p < 0.001. Ampicillin resistance was above 90% against Escherichia coli in blood, urine and wound swabs. Conclusion: There was a spike in resistance to imipenem, ciprofloxacin and ampicillin against E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis and Proteus species from all three specimen sources.