Objective
The aim of this study was to retrospectively characterize
E. coli
and
K. pneumoniae
isolates obtained from neonates during a suspected NICU outbreak of infection in Ha’il, Saudi Arabia during a period of one month (April 2014).
Methods
Antibiotic susceptibility patterns, molecular characterization for antibiotic-resistant genes (
bla
TEM,
bla
SHV, and
bla
CTX-M), and genotyping by PFGE and MLST were performed.
Results
A total of 24
E. coli
and 48
K. pneumoniae
isolates were cultured from neonates that had been admitted to the NICU. Among
E. coli
, the majority of isolates (19/24) were ESBL-positive and all of these nineteen (100%) harbored the CTX-M-15 gene. A total of 15% (3/19) were co-producers of CTX-M-15 and SHV-12, and 68.4% (13/19) were co-producers of CTX-M-15 and TEM-1. Among
K. pneumoniae
isolates, 87.5% (42/48) were ESBL positive with 92.85% (39/42) of these isolates containing the CTX-M-15 gene. A total of 97% (38/39) of
K. pneumoniae
were co-producers of CTX-M-15 and SHV-12, and 88% (37/42) were positive for TEM-1. Furthermore, 85.7% (36/42)
K. pneumoniae
were co-producers of CTX-M-15 and TEM-1. The majority of
E. coli
isolates (18/19 isolates) were grouped into two genetic clusters by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and all the isolates were found to be ST-131 type. In contrast,
K. pneumoniae
(31/42) isolates belonged to a single genotypic lineage, and all (100%) isolates belonged to the ST-14 type.
Conclusion
This is the first report of CTX-M-15-positive, ESBL
E. coli
, and
K. pneumoniae
isolates recovered from an outbreak in an NICU in Ha’il, Saudi Arabia. It is alarming to note the high rate of outbreak isolates with simultaneous production of CTX-M-15 and SHV-12 conferring high-level resistance to oxyimino-cephalosporins.