Bacterial contamination and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of intensive care units medical equipment and inanimate surfaces at Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Mekelle, Northern Ethiopia

Abstract Abstract Objective: To determine bacterial contaminants and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns from medical equipment and inanimate surfaces. Results: Of 130 swabs, 115(88.5%) were culture positive, of which contaminated medical equipment and inanimate surfaces account 70 (83.3%) and 45 (97.8%), respectively. From the culture positive swabs, a total of 154 bacterial isolates were identified, out of which 106 (68.8%) were gram-positive and 48 (31.2%) were gram negative. Most isolates (82%) were resistant to ampicillin and 13%, 8.6%, and 14% were observed in ciprofloxacin, gentamicin and tetracycline respectively. Multi-drug resistant was observed in Escherichia coli (72.7%) and Staphylococcus aureus (58.7%).