Prevalence of antibiotics resistance and OXA carbapenemases genes in multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolates in central Taiwan

• Published in: European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases 2010-05, Vol.29 (5), p.601-604
• Main Authors: Yang, S.-C, Chang, W.-J, Chang, Y.-H, Tsai, Y.-S, Yang, T.-P, Juan, C.-W, Shiau, M.-Y
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acinetobacter baumannii; Acinetobacter baumannii - drug effects; Acinetobacter baumannii - enzymology; Acinetobacter baumannii - genetics; Acinetobacter baumannii - isolation & purification; Acinetobacter Infections - epidemiology; Acinetobacter Infections - microbiology; Amino acids; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Antibacterial agents; Antibiotics; Antibiotics. Antiinfectious agents. Antiparasitic agents; Antimicrobial agents; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; beta-Lactam Resistance - genetics; beta-Lactamases - genetics; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Brief Report; Carbapenems - pharmacology; Drug resistance; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial - genetics; Hospitals; Humans; Infectious diseases; Internal Medicine; Medical Microbiology; Medical sciences; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Polymerase chain reaction; Prevalence; Staphylococcus infections; Taiwan - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0934-9723; 1435-4373
• DOI: 10.1007/s10096-010-0878-2

This study analyzed the prevalence of antibiotics resistance and the distribution of genes responsible for carbapenems resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii isolates. Clinical A. baumannii isolates were cultured, identified, and collected during the period from May 2007 to February 2009. Antibiotics resistance rates of the clinical isolates were analyzed by antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The distribution of carbapenemase alleles were investigated in the multidrug-resistant (MDR) A. baumannii isolates by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques. A total of 1,265 independent A. baumannii isolates were identified. Approximately 70% of the clinical isolates were resistant to ampicillin/sulbactam, followed by imipenem, meropenem, cefepime, piperacillin/tazobactam, ceftazidime, and cefoperazone. Overall, 15.18% (192/1,265) of the isolates were characterized as MDR strains. All of the MDR A. baumannii isolates carried the bla OXA₅₁₋like allele. The detection rate of the bla OXA₂₃₋like and bla OXA₂₄₋like alleles was 96.35% (185/192) and 0.52% (1/192), respectively. Most of the isolates (185/192, 96.35%) carried genes which encode more than one carbapenemase. This report demonstrated that approximately 15% of A. baumannii clinical isolates in central Taiwan are MDR strains, with most of them harboring multiple carbapenemases. This study provides updated data regarding the prevalence of β-lactam resistance and genotyping information of carbapenems resistance of A. baumannii in central Taiwan.