Antimicrobial Susceptibility and Molecular Epidemiology of Multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Northeast of Brazil
Stephanie de Almeida-Alves
Posgraduate Program in Sciences and Health, Federal University of Ceará, Sobral, CE, Brazil.
Ludimila Gomes Pinheiro
Laboratory of Microbiology and Parasitology, Federal University of Ceará, Sobral, CE, Brazil.
Izabelly Linhares Ponte-Brito
Posgraduate Program in Sciences and Health, Federal University of Ceará, Sobral, CE, Brazil.
Paulo de Tarso Teles Dourado de Aragão
Laboratory of the Biotechnology Center, Federal University of Ceará, Sobral, CE, Brazil.
Guilherme Mendes Prado
Posgraduate Program in Sciences and Health, Federal University of Ceará, Sobral, CE, Brazil.
Júlio César Sousa Prado
Posgraduate Program in Sciences and Health, Federal University of Ceará, Sobral, CE, Brazil.
Raquel Oliveira dos Santos Fontenelle
Posgraduate Program in Sciences and Health, Federal University of Ceará, Sobral, CE, Brazil.
Francisco Cesar Barroso Barbosa *
Posgraduate Program in Sciences and Health, Federal University of Ceará, Sobral, CE, Brazil and Laboratory of Microbiology and Parasitology, Federal University of Ceará, Sobral, CE, Brazil.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial susceptibility profile of nosocomial strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from inpatients of a teaching hospital in the City of Sobral, Ceará, in Northeast of Brazil (Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Sobral - SCMS) from March/2019 to March/2020, as well as to assess the occurrence of resistance genes bla-TEM, bla-SHV, bla-CTX-M 1/2, bla-IMP-1, bla-KPC, bla-GES, bla-SPM-1, bla- NDM-1, bla-VIM.
Methodology: Bacterial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility tests (AST) were performed using the automated system Vitek®2. Conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify genes of interest.
Results: Thirty-eight specimens of P. aeruginosa were collected. More than half of the isolates were resistant to imipenem (55.2%), and showed different rates of resistance to the other antimicrobials tested. In addition, intermediate susceptibility was also observed to gentamicin (7.8% of the isolates) and meropenem (10.52% of the isolates). The gene bla-CTX-M 1/2 was the most prevalent (41.9%), while bla-GES was highly identified among the carbapenemase-producing strains (12.9%).
Conclusion: The results demonstrated considerable resistance rates to β-lactam antibiotics, which could be attributable to the indiscriminate use of these antibiotics in the analyzed hospital, whose control relies on the improvement of antimicrobial prescription policies.
Keywords: Beta-lactamases, carbapenemases, bla genes, nosocomial infection, antimicrobial resistance