Title

Antimicrobial resistance in ICU endotracheal aspirates: Evidence to support stewardship in Bangladesh

Authors

Sanjida Khondakar Setu¹, Abu Naser Ibne Sattar^1,*, Towfique Hasan Firoz² & Sanjar Taufiq³

Affiliation

¹Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Bangladesh Medical University, Shahbag, Dhaka, Bangladesh; ²Department of Radiotherapy, National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh; ³Department of Biotechnology, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh; *Corresponding author

Email

Sanjida Khondakar Setu - E-mail: setusanjidak@bsmmu.edu.bd
Abu Naser Ibne Sattar - E-mail: nasersattar@bsmmu.edu.bd
Towfique Hasan Firoz - E-mail: drtowfique@gmail.com
Sanjar Taufiq - E-mail: sanjar.taufiq@g.bracu.ac.bd; sanjartaufiq03@gmail.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received March 1, 2026; Revised March 31, 2026; Accepted March 31, 2026, Published March 31, 2026

Abstract

Ventilator-associated respiratory infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in mechanically ventilated ICU patients. Therefore, it is of interest to analyze endotracheal aspirates collected from adult ICU patients at Bangladesh Medical University between July 2024 to June 2025. Among 111 samples examined, 26.1% showed significant bacterial growth. Gram-negative bacilli predominated (96.6%) among the isolates. The most frequent pathogen was Pseudomonas aeruginosa (58.6%), followed by Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli. High resistance was observed to third-generation cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones and aminoglycosides. Reduced susceptibility to carbapenems was also detected among P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii isolates. All Gram-negative isolates remained susceptible to colistin. The single Staphylococcus aureus isolate was susceptible to vancomycin. Thus, we show the predominance of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens in ventilated ICU patients. Institution-specific susceptibility data are essential to guide rational empiric therapy and support antimicrobial stewardship in resource-limited ICUs.

Keywords

Ventilator-associated respiratory infections (VARI), endotracheal aspirate, evidence-based antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial stewardship, bacterial pathogens in VAP

Citation

Setu et al. Bioinformation 22(3): 1784-1788 (2026)

Edited by

P Kangueane

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.