Background: Antimicrobial resistance involves the ineffectiveness of one or more antibiotics against an infection. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria kill 25.000 people per year in Europe.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the resistance profile of bacteria isolated from surfaces and staff’s hands in bacteriology laboratories in Togo.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study that took place from June to December 2021 in all bacteriology laboratories in Togo. Swabs taken from the surfaces and the hands of the staff were immediately inoculated onto the agar media. After 24 hours of incubation, the isolated germs were identified by conventional biochemical tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was carried out for each bacterial isolate using Kirby–Bauer disc diffusion method. The frequencies of antibiotic sensitivity and resistance were calculated.

Results: A total of 112 strains were isolated from 291 samples of which, 27.8% were taken from staff’s hands. The predominant bacteria were Klebsiella spp 38.4%, Staphylococcus spp 26.8%, E. coli 11.6% and Acinetobacter spp 8%. Klebsiella spp strains were resistant to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (20.9%), ceftazidim (11.6%), imipenem (2.3%) and ciprofloxacin (11.6%). Staphylococcus spp were resistant to penicillin G (90%), cefoxitin (30%), gentamicin (33.3%) and norfloxacin (20%). All staphylococci were sensitive to vancomycin. E. coli strains were resistant to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (38.4%), ceftazidim (15.4%) and ciprofloxacin (30.7%). Acinetobacter spp were resistant to piperacillin (11.1%), piperacillin-tazobactam (11.1%), ceftriaxone (11.1%) and ciprofloxcin (100%). Pseudomonas aeruginosa were resistant to ticarcillin (100%), ceftazidim (100%), imipenem (100%), ciprofloxacin (100%) and sensitive to amikacin (100%).

Conclusion: Strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter spp isolated from laboratory surfaces were highly resistant to ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic commonly used in treatment of infections.