Environmental culture for carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales

We conducted environmental cultures for carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) to evaluate the environmental contamination around patients with CPE. CPE was detected in the environmental cultures of four of the nine intensive care unit (ICU) inpatients with CPE. All four isolates were collected from sink surfaces in isolation rooms within the ICU. CPE isolates from the environment differed from those isolated from patients and had different carbapenemases. Even though CPE isolates from the environment of the ICU were not associated with CPE isolates from patients, the repeated isolation of CPE from sinks over several months is alarming.