Clonal diversity of carbapenemase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from clinical samples in a third level hospital in Peru.

Abstract

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen associated with health care infections, it has high levels of antimicrobial resistance and is associated with hospital outbreaks. Early outbreak detection is a usual problem in hospitals, therefore, this study aimed to assess the clonal relationship of carbapenemase-producing P. aeruginosa in a tertiary hospital in Lima, Peru. Twenty-four metallo β-lactamase-producing P. aeruginosa strains isolated from hospitalized patients were collected. The clonal relation was determined using the REP-PCR technique. REP-PCR band profiles were normalized, analyzed and combined using BioNumerics version 7.6 software. Molecular identification showed 19 different profiles and four clonal groups. We determined polyclonality among isolates. We did not find clonal dissemination among the metallo-β-lactamase-producing P. aeruginosa strains circulating in the hospital. Motivation for the study. The isolation of carbapenemase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa in different wards of a tertiary care hospital prompted the identification of the clonality of the isolates and to determine whether they corresponded to an intrahospital outbreak. Main findings. The REP-PCR technique grouped the 24 strains of metallo-β-lactamase-producing P. aeruginosa isolated from patients in different hospital wards into 19 profiles. The greatest clonal diversity was found in the medical ward. Public health implications. Molecular typing by REP-PCR could be a practical and rapid alternative for the surveillance and control of hospital outbreaks.