[Antimicrobial Resistance of Major Clinical Pathogens Isolated from General Hospitals in Korea: Results from the 2nd Phase (2020-2022) Kor-GLASS].

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency established Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System in Korea (Kor-GLASS), an antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance system compatible with the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS). This study aimed to analyze the AMR status of major pathogens collected during the operation of the 2nd Kor-GLASS from 2020 to 2022. Among 549,686 target cultures, 41,857 pathogens were identified. The predominant bacterial species were Escherichia coli (n=30,314), Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=3,259), and Staphylococcus aureus (n=2,241). The resistance rate of methicillin-resistant S. aureus decreased from 53.5% in 2016 to 45.7% in 2022. The resistance rate to vancomycin of Enterococcus faecium increased from 29.9% in 2016 to 40.9% in 2019, and then slightly decreased to 35.1% in 2022. Among the blood isolates of Enterobacterales resistant to carbapenem used to treat multidrug-resistant bacteria, E. coli and Salmonella spp. maintained a resistance rate of less than 0.2%, whereas the rate for K. pneumoniae steadily increased from 2.1% (2016) to 4.0% (2020), 6.8% (2021), and 6.7% (2022). Kor-GLASS generates standardized AMR data based on a collection of strains and clinical information related to the bacterial isolates. The results of this study provide basic data for the development of policies for antimicrobial resistance control.