RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Carbapenem resistance is endemic in the Indian sub-continent. In this study, carbapenem resistance rates and the prevalence of different carbapenemases were determined in Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa during two periods; Pre-COVID (August to October 2019) and COVID (January to February 2021) in a north-Indian tertiary care hospital. METHODS: Details of patient demographics and clinical condition was collated from the Hospital Information System and detection of carbapenemases NDM, OXA-48, VIM, IMP and KPC was done by Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 152 and 138 non-consecutive carbapenem resistant isolates during the two study periods respectively. Conjugation assay and sequencing of NDM and OXA-48 gene was done on a few selected isolates. RESULTS: As compared to Pre-COVID period, co-morbidities and the mortality rates were higher in patients harbouring carbapenem resistant organisms during the COVID period. The overall carbapenem resistance rate for all the four organisms increased from 23 to 41% between the two periods of study; with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae showing significant increase (p < 0.05). OXA-48, NDM and co-expression of NDM and OXA-48 were the most common genotypes detected. NDM-5 and OXA-232 were most common variants of NDM and OXA-48 family respectively during both the study periods. CONCLUSION: Higher rate of carbapenem resistance in COVID times could be attributed to increase in number of patients with co-morbidities. However, genetic elements of carbapenem resistance largely remained the same in the two time periods.
Assuntos
Antibacterianos , COVID-19 , Humanos , Antibacterianos/farmacologia , Centros de Atenção Terciária , COVID-19/epidemiologia , Proteínas de Bactérias/genética , Carbapenêmicos/farmacologia , beta-Lactamases/genética , Escherichia coli/genética , Klebsiella pneumoniae/genéticaRESUMO
The aim of the study was to find out the carbapenem resistance rate and prevalence of different carbapenemase genes in Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli from a North Indian corporate hospital that receives both Indian and international patients. A total of 528 clinical isolates of E. coli and K. pneumoniae were included in the study. All isolates that were found resistant to carbapenems by MIC testing (Vitek II Compact®) were screened for NDM, OXA-48, VIM, and KPC genes by PCR. Sequencing of NDM gene and transmissibility by conjugation assay were checked on 22 randomly selected NDM-positive isolates. One hundred and fifty-six isolates (29.54%) were carbapenem-resistant. The rate of carbapenem resistance was significantly higher in K. pneumoniae as compared to E. coli (53.9% vs. 15.6%; p < 0.05). The NDM gene was found in 34.6% (54/156), OXA-48 in 31.4% (49/156), co-expression of NDM + OXA-48 in 15.3% (24/156) of the carbapenem-resistant isolates. VIM and KPC were absent in all isolates. NDM gene was significantly more prevalent in E. coli than K. pneumoniae (p < 0.05). All the tested isolates formed transconjugants and NDM-5 was the most common variant in both species (15/22). The presence of plasmid-based NDM calls for stricter surveillance measures in our hospital settings.
