Predominance of blaKPC carbapenemase gene in multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from ICUs and surgical wards in Egypt.

Background: The last-resort classes of antibiotics with the best success in treating severe Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) infections caused by drug-resistant P. aeruginosa are carbapenems. So, we aimed to assess the frequency of carbapenemresistant genes in P. aeruginosa. Methods: Samples isolated from critically ill patients at Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and surgical wards in Minia, Egypt were examined for imipenem-resistance phenotypically by Modified Hodge test (MHT) and Modified carbapenem inactivation method (mCIM) test and genotypically by PCR. Results: Fifty isolates (64%) of P. aeruginosa were resistant to carbapenems (imipenem and meropenem), of which: 16 (32%) were (MHT) positive and 26 (52 %) were (mCIM)- positive. Regarding resistance genes, bla_IMP, bla_VIM, and bla_KPC were detected in 14%, 20%, and 48% of the carbapenem resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA) isolates; respectively, while bla_GIM, bla_SIM, bla_NDM-1 and bla_SPM-1 were not detected. Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains of P. aeruginosa. Doctors should pay attention to carbapenem resistance. mCIM test was much more sensitive than MHT for phenotypic detection of CRPA isolates. blaKPC gene was the most frequently detected gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]