Objective: In this study, it was aimed to investigate the species distribution and antimicrobial resistance rates of bacteria isolated from blood cultures of inpatients at Prof. Dr. Süleyman Yalçın City Hospital.

Methods: Blood culture samples were incubated with the BACT/ALERT 3D (bioMérieux, France) automated system for 5 days. Microorganisms were identified using conventional methods, VITEK 2 (bioMérieux, France) and MALDI-TOF MS (Matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry) automated system. Antibiotic susceptibility was evaluated with VITEK 2 (bioMérieux, France) in line with EUCAST (European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing) recommendations.

Results: Of the 65954 blood culture samples included in the study, 9323 (14.1%) were evaluated as bacteremia and sepsis agents. Among the microorganisms isolated, coagulase negative staphylococci (57.28%) were leading, followed by Escherichia coli (5.97%), Klebsiella spp. (5.50%), Staphylococcus aureus (4.56%), Enterococcus spp. (4.47%), Candida spp. (4.03%), Acinetobacter baumannii (3.74%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2.26%), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (2.06%), Enterobacter spp. (1%), and Streptococcus pneumoniae (0.25%). Escherichia coli and Enterobacter spp. were mostly isolated from internal services, Klebsiella spp., Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were mostly isolated from intensive care units. It was determined that the most effective antibiotics against gram negative bacteria were colistin, carbapenems and amikacin.

Conclusion: Antibiotic susceptibility of agents detected in bloodstream infections differs according to hospitals. Therefore, it is considered that the analysis of epidemiological data by each center at regular intervals will contribute to the rational use of antibiotics.