No abstract

ObjectivesAntimicrobial resistant extended-spectrum-β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-PE) have been shown to be present in healthy communities. This study examined healthy children from the rural Andean village of Llano del Hato, Mérida, Venezuela, who have had little or no antibiotic exposure to determine the prevalence of fecal carriage of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-EC).MethodsA total of 78 fecal samples were collected in healthy children aged from 1 to 5 years. ESBL-EC were selected in MacConkey agar plates with cefotaxime and further confirmed by the VITEK 2 system. ESBL were phenotypically detected and presence of bla genes and their variants were confirmed by molecular assays. Determination of phylogenetic groups was performed by PCR amplification. Risk factors associated with fecal carriage of ESBL-EC-positive isolates were analyzed using standard statistical methods.ResultsOf the 78 children studied, 27 (34.6%) carried ESBL-EC. All strains harbored the blaCTX-M-15 allele. Of these, 8 were co-producers of blaTEM-1, blaTEM-5, blaSHV-5 or blaSHV-12. Co-resistance to aminoglycosides and/or fluoroquinolones was observed in 9 strains. 51.9% of ESBL-EC isolates were classified within phylogroup A. A significant, positive correlation was found between age (≥2.5 – ≤5 years), food consumption patterns and ESBL-EC fecal carriage.ConclusionThis is the first study describing the high prevalence of fecal carriage of ESBL-EC expressing CTX-M-15- among very young, healthy children from a rural Andean village in Venezuela with scarce antibiotic exposure, underlining the importance of this population as a reservoir.

No abstract

During the last decade, carbapenem resistance has emerged among clinical isolates of the Enterobacteriaceae family. This has been increasingly attributed to the production of β-lactamases capable of hydrolyzing carbapenems. Among these enzymes, Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemases (KPCs) are the most frequently and clinically significant class-A carbapenemases. In this report, we describe the first nosocomial KPC-2-producing K. oxytoca isolated from a pediatric patient with pneumonia admitted to the intensive care unit at The Andes University Hospital, Mérida, Venezuela. This strain was resistant to several antibiotics including imipenem, ertapenem, and meropenem but remained susceptible to ciprofloxacin, colistin, and tigecycline. Conjugation assays demonstrated the transferability of all resistance determinants, except aminoglycosides. The isolate LMM-SA26 carried a ~21 kb conjugative plasmid that harbored the bla KPC-2, bla CTX-M-8, and bla TEM-15 genes. Although carbapenem resistance in the Enterobacteriaceae is still unusual in Venezuela, KPCs have a great potential to spread due to their localization on mobile genetic elements. Therefore, rapid detection of KPC-carrying bacteria with phenotypic and confirmatory molecular tests is essential to establish therapeutic options and effective control measures.

The findings in this study show the need to adopt strict criteria justifying the use of bladder catheterization and its duration, as well as the implementation of programs to prevent and control the spread of multi-resistant bacterial clones in patients with CA-UTI in the HULA Internal Medicine department.