Worrying levels of antimicrobial resistance in Gram-negative bacteria isolated from cell phones and uniforms of Peruvian intensive care unit workers

Abstract

Background Healthcare worker (HCW) uniforms and cell phones are involved in pathogen transmission. This study aimed to characterize pathogenic microorganism isolates from HCW uniforms and cell phones. Methods Gram-negative microorganisms were recovered from HCW uniforms and cell phones. Antimicrobial susceptibility and the presence of extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL) and carbapenemases were determined. Results Escherichia coli was the most prevalent microorganism. Overall, high levels of resistance to cephalosporins, quinolones, co-trimoxazole and colistin were found. ESBL were mainly related to blaCTX-M-15 and blaSHV- genes. Carbapenem-resistant isolates presented as blaKPC or blaNDM. Conclusions High levels of antimicrobial resistance, including colistin, were detected. Therefore, strategies are urgently needed to prevent bacterial dissemination.

International travel as a risk factor for carriage of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli in a large sample of European individuals - The AWARE Study

“…Therefore, we have a relatively large sample of participants drawn from the general population in Southern Germany, the Netherlands, and Romania. In contrast, other similar studies explored risk factors in large sample sizes from only one country (63), in specific high-risk populations such as farmers (32)(33)(34)(35)37,38,40,42,43) and slaughterhouse workers (31), healthcare workers and patients (39,44,45,47,48), or travelers (8,10,14,18,20,25,26,46), or in convenience samples of students (16,17,21,22). Further, when exploring frequency of travel, we considered all areas of the globe, and did not limit ourselves to low-and-middle income countries or other areas that would have been otherwise considered a priori as high-risk areas for AR.…”

“…Other potential risk factors include travels to high-risk areas for AR , nutrition (28,29), health status (21,25), and occupation (30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45). However, most of the studies examining potential risk factors focus on high-risk populations such as travelers (8,10,14,18,20,25,26,46), healthcare workers and patients (39,44,45,47,48), swimmers (49)(50)(51), farmers (32)(33)(34)(35)37,38,40,42,43), and slaughterhouse workers (31), and often using small convenience samples of e.g. students (16,17,…”

Evolution of the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance among Escherichia coli isolated as a cause of infection in patients admitted to a iv-level hospital in Lima, Peru

“…Antimicrobial resistance is an increasing problem worldwide, affecting all microorganisms regardless of source or whether they are or they are not pathogenic (Bumbangi et al, 2022;Palma et al, 2017;Pons & Ruiz, 2019;Ymaña et al, 2022). This scenario is challenging to medical practices because of the increasing ineffectiveness of the current antibacterial armamentarium.…”

KPC-2-NDM-1-producing Serratia marcescens: first description in Peru

“…Antimicrobial susceptibility to 15 antimicrobial agents was established by disk diffusion and clonal relationships by repetitive extragenic palindromic polymerase chain reaction (REP-PCR) [ 2 ]. The presence of ESBLs was established phenotypically [ 2 ], while bla IMP , bla KPC , bla NDM , bla OXA-48 and bla VIM were detected by PCR [ 3 ]. The entire bla KPC and bla NDM were amplified and sequenced (Macrogen, Seoul, South Korea) and their conjugability was established [ 2 , 4 , 5 ].…”

“…Regarding Peru, a study reporting the isolation of S. marcescens carrying bla KPC and bla NDM has been found, with the microorganism being isolated from a physician cell-phone, but no data of exact KPC or NDM variant was reported [ 3 ]. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of an human bla KPC-2 - bla NDM-1 -carrying S. marcescens in Peru.…”