title: Emergence of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance (MCR-1) among Escherichia coli isolated from South African patients.
abstract: The polymyxin antibiotic colistin is an antibiotic of last resort for the treatment of extensively drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, including carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae. The State of the World's Antibiotics report in 2015 highlighted South Africa (SA)'s increasing incidence of these 'superbugs' (3.2% of Klebsiella pneumoniae reported from SA were carbapenemase producers), and in doing so, underscored SA's increasing reliance on colistin as a last line of defence. Colistin resistance effectively renders such increasingly common infections untreatable.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Clinical Microbiology and Molecular Sciences, Ampath Reference Laboratory, Centurion, Pretoria, South Africa. coetzeej@ampath.co.za.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Coetzee
authors.forename: Craig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Corcoran
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Prentice
authors.forename: Mischka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moodley
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mendelson
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Poirel
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nordmann
authors.forename: Adrian John
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Brink
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003091:Colistin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010957:Plasmids; D011634:Public Health; D013019:South Africa
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C000614037:MCR-1 protein, E coli; D003091:Colistin