Incidence of carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa in diabetes and cancer patients.

Two hundred and thirty isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were obtained from samples of patients having diabetes (75%), cancer (20%), and both diabetes and cancer (5%) who were admitted to a tertiary care hospital in Western India from January to December 2006. These isolates were tested for susceptibility to antipseudomonal drugs and considered to be resistant to carbapenem when the zone of inhibition around imipenem and meropenem discs was < or =13 mm. Of these 230 isolates, 26% were found to be carbapenem resistant. The rapid dissemination of carbapenem resistance is worrisome and calls for the implementation of surveillance studies as well as judicious use of antibiotics.