Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance of Gram-Negative ESKAPE Pathogens Isolated from Tertiary Care Hospital in Eastern India

Gram-negative ESKAPE pathogens pose major challenges to global public health due to their multidrug resistance and virulence. The present study aimed to study the prevalence and resistance of Gram-negative ESKAPE pathogens at a tertiary care hospital in Eastern India. A retrospective analysis was conducted on 7343 non-duplicate isolates collected between January 2023 and December 2024. The bacterial isolates and their antibiotic susceptibility testing were identified using Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion techniques and the VITEK 2 Compact system, adhering to CLSI 2025 and EUCAST 2024 guidelines. Our findings indicate that Klebsiella pneumoniae was the most common isolate, followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii complex, and Enterobacter cloacae complex, predominantly affecting male patients aged 18–64 years. Importantly, most of these isolates exhibit increased multidrug resistance (MDR) to several key antibiotics, including β-lactams and carbapenems, which further complicates the treatment process. The analysis of seasonal dynamics revealed an increased abundance of infections in monsoon and post-monsoon periods. These findings will be useful in understanding AMR in hospital environments and in developing strategies to prevent the occurrence and spread of antimicrobial resistance among pathogens.