Epidemiology and Infection

Table of Contents - February 2013 - Volume 141, Issue 02  

Short Report

TB, other bacteria

Carbapenem-susceptible Acinetobacter baumannii carrying the ISAba1 upstream bla OXA-51-like gene in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil

M. PAGANOa1 c1, A. F. MARTINSa2, A. B. M. P. MACHADOa3, J. BARINa1 and A. L. BARTHa1a3

a1 Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Médicas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

a2 Centro Universitário Metodista do IPA, Porto Alegre, Brazil

a3 Serviço de Patologia Clínica, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil

SUMMARY

Over the last decade, Acinetobacter baumannii resistant to carbapenems has emerged in many medical centres and is commonly associated with high morbidity and mortality. We investigated potential mechanisms contributing to antimicrobial resistance of 58 clinical isolates of A. baumannii collected during a prolonged city-wide outbreak in five different hospitals in southern Brazil. The integrase gene was detected in 51 (87·9%) isolates of which 36 harboured class 2 integrons alone and 14 had both class 1 and 2 integrons; all carbapenem-resistant isolates displayed class 2 integrons. ISAba1 was found upstream of bla OXA-23-like only in isolates resistant to carbapenems; however, ISAba1 upstream of bla OXA-51-like was present in both susceptible and resistant isolates. This is the first report of a high prevalence of class 2 integrons in A. baumannii in southern Brazil. Moreover, our study suggests that ISAba1/bla OXA-51-like alone is insufficient to confer resistance to carbapenems.

(Received March 09 2012)

(Revised March 26 2012)

(Accepted March 26 2012)

(Online publication April 19 2012)

Key words

  • Antibiotic resistance;
  • emerging infections;
  • hospital-acquired (nosocomial) infections;
  • infectious disease epidemiology;
  • molecular epidemiology

Correspondence:

c1 Author for correspondence: Miss M. Pagano, Serviço de Patologia Clínica, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Rua Ramiro Barcelos 2350, CEP: 90035-903, Porto Alegre/RS, Brazil. (Email: mari.pag@hotmail.com)

Metrics
Related Content