Exploring the antibiotic susceptibility of nosocomial infection causative Corynebacterium striatum strains

Introduction: Corynebacterium striatum (C. striatum) is one of the most frequently reported nosocomial infection agents among patients hospitalized in intensive care units following the COVID-19 pandemic. It may cause various opportunistic infections, such as ventilator-associated pneumonia and catheter-associated bloodstream infections, in such patients. The present study attempted to investigate the antibiotic susceptibility of 14 nosocomial infection agent C. striatum strains, isolated from deep tracheal aspirate and blood culture samples of hospitalized patients, for seven different antibiotics (benzylpenicillin, ciprofloxacin, clindamycin, rifampicin, linezolid, tetracycline, and vancomycin). Material and Method: Antibiotic susceptibility of the strains for the mentioned antibiotics was determined utilizing a disk diffusion test in line with the recommendations of the European Antibiotic Susceptibility Committee (EUCAST).Results: While all the isolated C. striatum strains (100%) were resistant to benzylpenicillin, tetracycline, rifampicin, ciprofloxacin, and clindamycin, we found none of them to be resistant to vancomycin and linezolid.Conclusion: Overall, uncovering the antibiotic susceptibility of C. striatum strains isolated from clinical specimens would guide clinicians in deciding on the empirical treatment of hospital-acquired infections led by this agent.