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Life sciences · Journal article
Academic Aurora · August 21, 2026
Early or partial results. Treat as a signal, not a conclusion.
This single-centre cross-sectional survey documents antimicrobial susceptibility patterns in Gram-negative bacteria from 63 isolates collected over 4 months in a Nepalese tertiary hospital. High rates of resistance to amoxicillin and cefixime, and high susceptibility to carbapenems and chloramphenicol, are reported; the finding of multidrug resistance and ESBL production in E. coli reflects a local surveillance snapshot but provides no evidence for intervention efficacy or prognostic significance.
Hospital-based cross-sectional descriptive survey. Clinical specimens (urine n=263, sputum n=260, blood n=214) submitted to a tertiary care hospital microbiology department; no patient demographic or clinical eligibility criteria described.. n = 63. Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Among 737 processed specimens, 76 (10.3%) showed bacterial growth; 63 (82.9%) were Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli was most prevalent at 39.7%, followed by Salmonella Typhi at 19.0% High resistance to amoxicillin (55.6%) and cefixime (41.3%); high susceptibility to chloramphenicol (96.8%), piperacillin/tazobactam (95.2%), and meropenem (92.1%)
Safety was not reported in the material analysed. Check the source before drawing any conclusion about harm.
This survey documents local antimicrobial resistance prevalence in a Nepalese teaching hospital and supports the authors' recommendation for routine susceptibility testing and surveillance to guide empiric therapy. However, the low culture yield and single-centre design limit generalizability; clinicians should interpret these findings as a local epidemiological snapshot rather than evidence for changing practice.
Single-centre, cross-sectional descriptive survey of antimicrobial susceptibility patterns with low culture yield (10.3%) and no comparator or hypothesis test; reports prevalence data only, not clinical outcomes or intervention efficacy.
As stated by the source record.
Quoted from the source exactly as published.
This survey documents local antimicrobial resistance prevalence in a Nepalese teaching hospital and supports the authors' recommendation for routine susceptibility testing and surveillance to guide empiric therapy. However, the low culture yield and single-centre design limit generalizability; clinicians should interpret these findings as a local epidemiological snapshot rather than evidence for changing practice.
Graded across the dimensions that decide whether you should act, each from what the source actually supports. There is no single score, and where a dimension was not assessed it says so.
Infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria and the rapid emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represent a serious global public health challenge. Low and middle-income countries, including Nepal, face a significant burden of AMR due to irrational antibiotic use. This study aims to assess the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of Gram-negative bacteria isolated from a tertiary care hospital in Nepal. A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Microbiology, Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, Kathmandu, from April to July 2023. A total of 737 clinical specimens including urine (n=263), sputum (n=260) and blood (n=214) were processed using standard microbiological techniques. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using the modified Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion method following Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. Extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) production was screened using ceftazidime and ceftriaxone disks and confirmed by double-disc synergy and combined disc methods. Among the 737 processed specimens, 76 (10.3%) showed bacterial growth, of these isolates 63 (82.9%) were Gram-negative bacteria. Escherichia coli (39.7%) was the most prevalent isolate followed by Salmonella Typhi (19.0%). Most Gram-negative isolates showed high resistance to amoxicillin (55.6%) and cefixime (41.3%). Chloramphenicol (96.8%), piperacillin/ tazobactam (95.2%) and meropenem (92.1%) were the most effective antibiotics. Among the 25 E. coli isolates, 13 (52%) were multidrug resistant and 12 (48%) were suspected ESBL producers, of which 10 were phenotypically confirmed. The high prevalence of multidrug resistance and ESBL production highlights the need for routine antimicrobial susceptibility testing and continuous surveillance to guide appropriate antibiotic therapy.
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