During a Brazilian multicentric antimicrobial resistance surveillance study, colistin resistance was investigated in 4,620 Enterobacteriaceae isolated from human, animal, food and environmental samples collected from 2000 to 2016. We present evidence that mcr-1-positive Escherichia coli has been emerging in South America since at least 2012, supporting a previous report on the possible acquisition of mcr-1-harbouring E. coli by European travellers visiting Latin American countries.

This study aimed to describe severe infections with extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii-calcoaceticus complex (XDR-ABC), as well as to investigate risk factors for mortality, in cancer patients. It was a retrospective study including all patients diagnosed with XDR-ABC bacteraemia during hospitalization in the intensive care unit of a cancer hospital between July 2009 and July 2013. Surveillance cultures were collected weekly during the study period, and clonality was analysed using pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). We analysed underlying diseases, oncology therapy, neutrophil counts, infection site and management of infection, in terms of their correlation with 30-day mortality. During the study period, 92 patients with XDR-ABC bacteraemia were identified, of whom 35 (38.0%) were patients with haematological malignancy. We identified XDR-ABC strains with four different profile patterns, 91.3% of patients harbouring the predominant PFGE type. Of the 92 patients with XDR-ABC bacteraemia, 66 (71.7%) had central line-associated bloodstream infections; infection occurred during neutropenia in 22 (23.9%); and 58 (63.0%) died before receiving the appropriate therapy. All patients were treated with polymyxin, which was used in combination therapy in 30 of them (32.4%). The 30-day mortality rate was 83.7%. Multivariate analysis revealed that septic shock at diagnosis of XDR-ABC infection was a risk factor for 30-day mortality; protective factors were receiving appropriate therapy and invasive device removal within the first 48 h. Among cancer patients, ineffective management of such infection increases the risk of death, more so than do features such as neutropenia and infection at the tumour site.

bEight Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical strains with high-level aminoglycoside resistance were collected from eight hospitals in São Paulo State, Brazil, in 2010 and 2011. Three of them produced an RmtD group 16S rRNA methyltransferase, RmtD1 or RmtD2. Five strains were found to produce a novel 16S rRNA methyltransferase, designated RmtG, which shared 57 to 58% amino acid identity with RmtD1 and RmtD2. Seven strains coproduced KPC-2 with or without various CTX-M group extended-spectrum ␤-lactamases, while the remaining strain coproduced CTX-M-2.

We characterized extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL) enzymes among Salmonella strains isolated in Brazil from 2009 to 2014. Salmonella recovered from both clinical and nonhuman (food, poultry, and environment) sources were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing. β-lactamases genes were detected by polymerase chain reaction/sequencing; plasmid profiles and transferability were assessed by S1-pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Genetic diversity was evaluated by XbaI-PFGE. Out of 630 Salmonella strains screened, 46 displayed ESBL phenotype, distributed across 11 different serotypes. bla and bla genes were detected at frequencies of 47% and 41%, respectively. bla and bla were also detected but in lower frequencies (4%, 2%). bla gene was detected in 22% of the strains. Most of the ESBL genes were transferable by conjugation, and the respective bla gene was detected in the recipient strain, indicating the location of ESBL determinants on transferable plasmids. XbaI-PFGE revealed genomic diversity of Salmonella Typhimurium bearing bla, bla, bla, and bla genes. Salmonella Muenchen (harboring bla) and Salmonella Corvallis (bla and bla) showed clonal relatedness within respective serotypes. Our findings underscore the occurrence of diverse ESBL genes in several Salmonella serotypes, reinforcing the need for continuous surveillance of resistance genes circulating in human and nonhuman sources.