“Alert” microrganisms: role of microbiology laboratory

The phenomenom of antibiotic resistance represents today an important problem especially in nosocomial settings with a considerable impact in clinical treatment of infections. We have draft in collaboration with C.I.O. (Comitato infezioni Ospedaliere) and applied in the routine of microbiology laboratory the “Procedura per la gestione dei microrganismi sentinella” (Protocol for the management of “alert microrganisms”). In this study we have investigated the isolation of “alert microrganisms” in our hospital in a period of fifteen months and we have evaluated in time a relative antibiotic resistance.The term “alert microrganisms” is refered to microrganisms with particular antibiotic resistance profiles that are responsible of difficult to treat hospital infections. The study suggests the role of microbiology laboratory in the systematic research of “alert microrganisms” as excellent and economic information source for identify they to level of species and following the antibiotic resistance in time.