Worldwide increase of resistance to carbapenems among nosocomial strains of gram-negative bacteria is observed. In this regard, the need for continuous monitoring of the susceptibility of these bacteria to carbapenems for proper infection control and adequate and timely antibiotic therapy of infections is recognized.
THE AIM OF THE STUDY
Was to determine the prevalence of nosocomial strains of gram-negative bacteria resistant to carbapenems in an oncology hospital; determination of the reliability of testing for metal-betalactamase production by the Etests MBL IP/IPI method.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Identification: MALDI-TOF Microflex LT (Biotyper, Bruker Daltonics, Germany). Antimicrobial susceptibility: Microscan Walk Away 40/96 + Plus (Siemens, Germany) and Vitek 2 (BioMerieux, France), EUCAST criteria were used (V.9.0, valid from 2019-01-01). For screening of metal-betalactamases in P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii gradient strips (Etests MBL IP/IPI, BioMerieux, France) were used.
RESULTS
The main types of gram-negative rods were 81.1%: E. coli (26.2%), A. baumannii (22.0%), K. pneumoniae (18.6%) and P. aeruginosa (14.0%). In general, more than half of the main in vitro pathogens are resistant to carbapenems, and A. baumannii is the leader (98—100%) throughout the analyzed years. The resistance level for K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa is 48—61% and 41—60%, respectively. For E. coli, resistance to carbapenems is the lowest. By means of genotyping, P. aeruginosa was shown to produce mainly blaVIM metal-betalactamases, for A. baumannii — blaOXA23+blaOXA51, for K. pneumoniae — mainly blaOXA-48, with 20.5% of K. pneumoniae isolates with carbapenemase activity as tested in vitro susceptible to carbapenems. In 37.5% of P. aeruginosa strains tested with the Etests MBL IP/IPI method, class B carbapenemases were not detected by means of genotyping. Regarding to A. baumannii, a false positive result was obtained in 100% of cases using Etests MBL IP/IPI in the presence of blaOXA carbapenemases.
CONCLUSIONS
The highest resistance to both carbapenems was found in A. baumannii. Evaluating the ability to produce metal-betalactamases using the Etests MBL IP/IPI method is inappropriate for A. baumannii and should be made with caution for P. aeruginosa.