BackgroundMultidrug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii are common causes of health care associated infections worldwide. Carbapenems are effective against infections caused by multidrug resistant Gram-negative bacteria including Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter species. However, their use is threatened by the emergence of carbapenemase-producing strains. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii at Mulago Hospital in Kampala Uganda, and to establish whether the hospital environment harbors carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative rods.ResultsBetween February 2007 and September 2009, a total of 869 clinical specimens were processed for culture and sensitivity testing yielding 42 (5 %) P. aeruginosa and 29 (3 %) A. baumannii isolates, of which 24 % (10/42) P. aeruginosa and 31 % (9/29) A. baumannii were carbapenem-resistant. Additionally, 80 samples from the hospital environment were randomly collected and similarly processed yielding 58 % (46/80) P. aeruginosa and 14 % (11/80) A. baumannii, of which 33 % (15/46) P. aeruginosa and 55 % (6/11) A. baumannii were carbapenem-resistant. The total number of isolates studied was 128. Carbapenemase genes detected were blaIMP-like (36 %, 9/25), blaVIM-like (32 %, 8/25), blaSPM-like (16 %, 4/25); blaNDM-1-like (4 %, 1/25) in carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa, and blaOXA-23-like (60 %, 9/15), blaOXA-24-like (7 %, 1/15), blaOXA-58-like (13 %, 2/15), and blaVIM-like (13 %, 2/15) in carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii. Furthermore, class 1 integrons were detected in 38 % (48/128) of P. aeruginosa and Acinetobacter, 37 % (26/71) of which were in clinical isolates and 39 % (22/57) in environment isolates. Gene cassettes were found in 25 % (12/48) of integron-positive isolates. These were aminoglycoside adenylyltransferase ant(4′)-IIb (3 isolates); trimethoprim-resistant dihydrofolate reductase dfrA (2 isolates); adenyltransferase aadAB (3 isolates); QacE delta1 multidrug exporter (2 isolates); quinolone resistance pentapeptide repeat protein qnr (1 isolate); and metallo-β-lactamase genes blaVIM-4-like, blaIMP-19-like, and blaIMP-26-like (1 isolate each). Gene cassettes were missing in 75 % (36/48) of the integron-positive isolates.ConclusionsThe prevalence of carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa and Acinetobacter among hospitalized patients at Mulago Hospital is low compared to rates from South-East Asia. However, it is high among isolates and in the environment, which is of concern given that the hospital environment is a potential source of infection for hospitalized patients and health care workers.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40064-016-2986-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundMultidrug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter species are common causes of nosocomial infections worldwide. Recently we reported the occurrence of carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae, P. aeruginosa and Acinetobacter species at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, but the isolates were not analyzed for genetic relatedness. Herein we report the intra-species genotypic diversity among P. aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii isolated from hospitalized patients and the environment at Mulago Hospital, using repetitive elements-based PCR (Rep-PCR) genotyping.ResultsA total of 736 specimens from hospitalized patients were processed for culture and sensitivity testing yielding 9 (1.2%) P. aeruginosa and 7 (0.95%) A. baumannii. Similarly, 100 samples from the hospital environment were processed yielding 33 (33%) P. aeruginosa and 13 (13%) A. baumannii. Altogether, 62 non-repetitive isolates were studied (42 P. aeruginosa and 20 A. baumannii), of which 38% (16/42) P. aeruginosa and 40% (8/20) A. baumannii were multidrug resistant (isolates resistant to three or more classes of antimicrobials). Carbapenem resistance prevalence was 33 and 21% for P. aeruginosa from patients and the environment, respectively, while it was 14 and 86% for A. baumannii from patients and environment, respectively. Cluster analysis of the Rep-PCR fingerprints revealed a high level of genetic diversity among the isolates within each species as few isolates were clustered (at 100% level of similarity). More to this, the clustered isolates revealed a complex nature of multidrug resistant P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii clones circulating at Mulago Hospital. Importantly, certain isolates from the environment and patients were clustered, implying that hospitalized patients at Mulago were probably infected with strains from the environment.ConclusionsThe prevalence of multidrug resistant P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii is high at Mulago Hospital but carbapenem resistance prevalence remains relatively low in isolates from hospitalized patients. Importantly, the prevalence of carbapenem resistance in isolates from the environment is high implying the infection control practices at the hospital might be inadequate.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13104-017-2612-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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