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INTRODUCTION: In recent years, there has been a considerable increase in the prevalence of bacteria increasingly resistant to multiple families of antibiotics, which constitutes a major problem for public health.

AIM: To determine the prevalence and different risk factors for the acquisition of multi-resistant bacteria.

METHODS: This is an analytical and prospective study including patients hospitalized in the Batna University Hospital during the period from January 2023 to March 2023 presenting a documented infection with isolation of sensitive or multi-resistant strains. An operating sheet based on the different risk factors for acquiring multi-resistant bacteria has been established.

RESULTS: We collected 250 patients. There are 160 men and 90 women with an average age of 44 years. Of all the strains that were identified, 100 isolates were multi-resistant bacteria. ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae are the most frequently isolated multi-resistant bacteria. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified four risk factors that are significantly related to the risk of acquiring multi-resistant bacteria infection: prior antibiotic therapy [P = 0,029], use of invasive medical care [P = 0,024], the nosocomial origin of the infection [P = 0,036] and the use of public toilets [P = 0,015].

CONCLUSION: Our results clearly demonstrate that the inappropriate use of antibiotics, especially broad-spectrum antibiotics, and hand-held cross-transmission play a major role in the spread of multi-resistant bacteria in our hospital.