The Role offosAin Challenges with Fosfomycin Susceptibility Testing of MultispeciesKlebsiella pneumoniaeCarbapenemase-Producing Clinical Isolates

With multidrug resistant (MDR) Enterobacteriales on the rise, a non-toxic agent with a unique mechanism of action such as fosfomycin seems attractive. However, establishing accurate fosfomycin susceptibility testing for non-E. coliin a clinical microbiology laboratory remains problematic. We evaluated fosfomycin susceptibility by multiple methods with multiple strains and species of KPC-producing clinical isolates collected at a single center between 2008 and 2016. In addition, we assessed the presence of fosfomycin resistance genes from whole genome sequencing (WGS) data using NCBI’s AMRFinder and custom HMM search. Susceptibility testing was performed using glucose-6-phosphate supplemented fosfomycin E-Test and Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion (DD) assays, and compared to agar dilution. Clinical Laboratory and Standards Institute (CLSI) breakpoints forE. coliwere applied for interpretation. Overall, 63% (60/96) of isolates were susceptible by E-Test, 70% (67/96) by DD, and 88% (84/96) by agar dilution.FosAwas detected in 80% (70/88) of previously sequenced isolates, with species-specific associations and alleles, andfosA-positive isolates were associated with higher MIC distributions. Disk potentiation testing was performed using sodium phosphonoformate to inhibitfosAand showed significant increases in the zone diameter of DD testing for isolates that werefosA-positive compared tofosA-negative. The addition of sodium phosphonoformate (PPF) corrected 10/14 (71%) major errors in categorical agreement with agar dilution. Our results indicate thatfosAinfluences the inaccuracy of susceptibility testing by methods readily available in a clinical laboratory when compared to agar dilution. Further research is needed to determine the impact offosAon clinical outcomes.