Colonization of a medical center in Southern Taiwan by epidemic strains of carbapenem- and multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and the genetic organization of their integrons.
A total of 46 carbapenem- and multidrug-resistant (CR- and MDR-)Acinetobacter baumannii bacteremic isolates from a Taiwanese medical center were investigated over the period 2000 to 2006 using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) profiling and by analysing the genetic organization of their integrons. The results of RAPD patterns revealed that before 2003 each CR- and MDR-A. baumannii bacteremic isolate was independent, but after 2003 the isolates appeared to belong in four epidemic strains and persisted in the hospital. All the CR- and MDR-A. baumannii strains harbored class I integron (intI1) genes. PCR amplification and nucleotide sequencing showed that the cassette genes of intI1 were found to form four different antibiotic-resistant gene alignments in those strains. The bla(IMP-1) gene in the cassette genes of intI1 was identified in a clone, which raised great concern that clonal spread of this strain or of an integron-mediated horizontal gene may have occurred.
Chen
Yao-Shen
YS
Section of Infectious Disease, Kaoshiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaoshiung, Taiwan.
Lin
Hsi-Hsun
HH
Wu
Chia-Hsuang
CH
Hsiao
Yu-Shan
YS
Hsu
Ning-Shan
NS
Chen
Ya-Lei
YL
D000151:Acinetobacter Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D040981:Acinetobacter baumannii / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015780:Carbapenems / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D032023:Integrons; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D015780:Carbapenems; D004269:DNA, Bacterial