title: Dissemination of class I integron in Acinetobacter baumliannii isolated from ventilator-associated pneumonia patients and their environment.
abstract: Multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii has become the most common cause of health care-associated infections at Maharaj Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital, Thailand. The objective of the study was to detect integrons using PCR-based method from 96 A. baumannii isolates from ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) patients and their environment. Antibiotic susceptibility was determined using a disk diffusion technique. Forty-six isolates exhibited integrase genes, with only class I and class II integron detected in 43 and 3 A. baumannii isolates, respectively. Twenty-seven of 52 clinical and 19 of 44 environmental isolates were integron-positive. Detection rate of integron-positive A. baumannii isolated from VAP patients increased from 25% to 83% over the 4 month study period. The majority (91%) of integron-positive A. baumannii showed resistance to 6 or more of 11 antibiotics tested and 72% of class I integron-positive isolates were imipenem-resistant. Thus, class I integron-positive A. baumannii had spread among the VAP patients and into hospital environment, the latter acting as reservoirs of potential pathogens possessing drug resistance genes.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Graduate Studies, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Suntariya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sirichot
authors.forename: Pornphan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Diraphat
authors.forename: Fuangfa
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Utrarachkij
authors.forename: Chanwit
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tribuddharat
authors.forename: Kanokrat
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Siripanichgon
mesh_terms: D000151:Acinetobacter Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D040981:Acinetobacter baumannii / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology*; D017931:DNA Primers; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D019426:Integrases / Q000235:genetics; D032023:Integrons / Q000235:genetics; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D053717:Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology; D014132:Trachea / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D019426:Integrases