Frequency of occurrence and antimicrobial susceptibility of bacteria isolated from respiratory samples of patients hospitalized with pneumonia in Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the USA: results from the SENTRY Antimicrobial Surveillance Program (2016–19)

Background The SENTRY Antimicrobial Surveillance Program monitors the frequency of occurrence and antimicrobial susceptibility of organisms from various infection types worldwide. Objectives To evaluate the SENTRY programme results for organisms isolated from respiratory samples of patients hospitalized with probable pneumonia. Methods A total of 28 918 bacterial isolates were consecutively collected (one per patient) in 2016–19 from 121 medical centres located in western Europe (W-EU; n = 7966), eastern Europe (E-EU; n = 3182) and the USA ( n = 17 770) and then susceptibility tested by reference broth microdilution methods in a central laboratory. Results Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) represented 76.3%, 88.6% and 69.1% of organisms; non-fermentative (NF) GNB accounted for 26.9%, 51.8% and 34.6% of organisms in W-EU, E-EU and USA, respectively. Pseudomonas aeruginosa susceptibility to piperacillin/tazobactam and meropenem was 75.4% and 76.9% in W-EU, 57.4% and 48.3% in E-EU, and 76.1% and 74.8% in the USA, respectively. Only 10.4% of Acinetobacter baumannii isolates from E-EU were meropenem susceptible compared with 45.8% in W-EU and 58.8% in the USA. Overall MRSA rates were 21.4% in W-EU and 28.7% in E-EU. In the USA, MRSA rates decreased from 44.8% in 2016 to 40.1% in 2019. Carbapenem resistance among Enterobacterales decreased continuously in the USA from 3.0% in 2016 to 1.7% in 2019 (2.4% overall) and was higher in E-EU (16.6%) than W-EU (2.2%). Klebsiella pneumoniae susceptibility to meropenem was 91.3%, 72.5% and 95.3% in W-EU, E-EU and the USA, respectively. Conclusions Rank order and antimicrobial susceptibility of bacteria isolated from patients with pneumonia widely varied by geography. MDR NF-GNB represented an important cause of pneumonia.