To determine the epidemiology and risk factors for carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CR-PA) digestive tract colonization, weekly rectal and pharyngeal swabs were obtained in two serial incidence surveys (266 patients). Forty-two (16%) patients were CR-PA colonized (12 [29%] on admission and 30 [71%] in intensive care units). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed extensive clonal di...

Objective: To determine the frequency of carbapenem resistance in Enteriobacteriaceae. Study design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Study was carried out from January 2011 to December 2011, in the Department of Microbiology, Basic Medical Sciences Institute (BMSI), Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), where 500 samples were collected from patients admitted in wards and ICUs of JPMC. Meth...

Carbapenem resistance in Escherichia coli is rare. We report four genetically unrelated carbapenem-resistant E. coli isolates cultured from four patients hospitalized in Tel Aviv Medical Center. PCR, sequencing, and Southern blot analysis identified KPC-2 as the imipenem-hydrolyzing enzyme in all four strains, carried on different plasmids with a possible common origin. This is the first discov...

In recent years, different resistance genes have been found in Acinetobacter spp., especially in the species A. baumannii. We describe two isolates of carbapenem-resistant A. nosocomialis harboring ISAba1-blaOXA-23 and blaOXA-51 found in patients from the city of Porto Alegre, southern Brazil. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of carbapenem-resistant A. nosocomiali...

Carbapenem resistance due to KPC has rarely been observed outside the United States. We noticed a sharp increase in carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strains possessing KPC in Tel Aviv Medical Center from 2004 to 2006. Sixty percent of the isolates belonged to a single clone susceptible only to gentamicin and colistin and carried the bla(KPC-3) gene, while almost all other clones carri...

BACKGROUND Despite increasing importance of Acinetobacter baumannii in nosocomial infections and rapid development of multi-antimicrobial resistance in this strain, the resistance mechanisms of beta-lactam antimicrobials in A. baumannii were not clearly defined. In order to observe the resistance mechanisms against beta-lactams and carbapenem, we characterized the production of beta-lactamases ...

Dear Editor, Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for severe infections and is associated with nosocomial outbreaks worldwide [1,2]. Carbapenems are the agents of choice to treat these infections, but multidrug-resistant isolates are being reported in hospitals worldwide [1]. One of the most important mechanisms of resistance to carbapenems is the production of carba...

Carbapenem antimicrobials are critically important to human health and they are often the only remaining effective antibiotics for treating serious infections. Resistance to these drugs mediated by acquired carbapenemase enzymes is increasingly encountered in gram-negative bacteria and is considered a public health emergency. Animal origin food products are recognized as a potential source of r...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is an opportunistic pathogen associated with a range of nosocomial infections. This microorganism is noted for its intrinsic resistance to antibiotics and for its ability to acquire genes encoding resistance determinants. Among the beta-lactam antibiotics, carbapenems with antipseudomonal activity are important agents for the therapy of infections due to P...