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Title: Identification of blaOXA-51, blaOXA-58, blaDIM-1 and blaVIM carbapenemase genes in hospital enterobacteriaceae isolates from Sierra Leone

Author
item LESKI, TOMASZ - Naval Research Laboratory
item BANGURA, UMARU - Mercy Hospital Research Laboratory
item JIMMY, DAVID - Naval Research Laboratory
item ANSUMANA, RASHID - Njala University
item LIZEWSKI, STEPHEN - Naval Research Laboratory
item Li, Robert
item STENGER, DAVID - Naval Research Laboratory
item TAITT, CHRIS - Naval Research Laboratory
item VORA, GARY - Naval Research Laboratory

Submitted to: Journal of Clinical Microbiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/2/2013
Publication Date: 5/8/2013
Citation: Leski, T., Bangura, U., Jimmy, D.H., Ansumana, R., Lizewski, S.E., Li, R.W., Stenger, D.A., Taitt, C.R., Vora, G. 2013. Identification of blaOXA-51, blaOXA-58, blaDIM-1 and blaVIM carbapenemase genes in hospital enterobacteriaceae isolates from Sierra Leone. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 51:2435-2438.

Interpretive Summary: The gastrointestinal microbiome acts as a metabolic organ and plays a critical role in host nutrient biosynthesis and utilization, development of the host immune system and diseases in vertebrates. Carbapenem antibiotics are currently the most potent ß-lactam antibiotics clinically available and are used as a last resort to treat infections caused by multidrug resistant Gram-negative pathogens. Carbapenemases are frequently found in pathogenic bacterial strains that confer resistance to various antibiotics, such as aminoglycosides, tetracyclines, and ß-lactams. In this report, we identified 15 carbapenemase genes. Our findings enable a better surveillance of antimicrobial resistance determinants to better understand the scope, severity and evolution of multidrug resistance among microbes from around the world.

Technical Abstract: We describe the results of a molecular epidemiological survey of 15 carbapenemase-encoding genes from a recent collection of clinical isolates. The most salient findings revealed that (i) 60% of the isolates harbored multiple carbapenemase genes, (ii) the blaDIM-1 gene that has only been reported in the Netherlands is also circulating in this environment and (iii) the blaOXA-51-like and blaOXA-58 genes, which were thought to reside exclusively in Acinetobacter species, can also be found in members of the Enterobacteriaceae.