Abstract:
To the Editor: In Latin American countries, rates of antimicrobial drug resistance among bacterial pathogens are high. Data on these rates in Peru are incomplete (1), and no institution in Peru has participated in multinational surveillance studies (2–4). To document the antimicrobial drug resistance profile of key pathogens, we organized a surveillance network of clinical laboratories from 9 hospitals (public, general, tertiary care, and quaternary care) in Lima, the capital of Peru. Over a 12-month period (April 2008–March 2009), we consecutively collected positive bacterial blood culture isolates (other than coagulase-negative staphylococci) from each of the 9 hospitals. Only the first isolate per patient was included. Patients’ age and hospital ward were recorded. Identification and susceptibility testing were performed at the Institute of Tropical Medicine Alexander von Humboldt (Lima, Peru)...