Healthcare Equipment and Personnel Reservoirs of Carbapenem-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Epidemic Clones in Intensive Care Units in a Tunisian Hospital

Autor: Sana Azaiez, Marisa Haenni, Asma Ben Cheikh, Mohamed Sahbi Chalbi, Aziza Messaoudi, Lamia Tilouch, Sana Bahri, Antoine Drapeau, Estelle Saras, Mariem Mtibâa, Rania Zouaoui, Houyem Said, Jean-Yves Madec, Agnese Lupo, Wejdene Mansour
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Microorganisms, Vol 11, Iss 11, p 2637 (2023)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2076-2607
DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11112637
Popis: Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) strains can cause severe and difficult-to-treat infections in patients with compromised general health. CRAB strains disseminate rapidly in nosocomial settings by patient-to-patient contact, through medical devices and inanimate reservoirs. The occurrence of CRAB in patients residing in the intensive care units (ICUs) of the Sahloul University hospital in Sousse, Tunisia is high. The objective of the current study was to determine whether the surfaces of items present in five ICU wards and the medical personnel there operating could serve as reservoirs for CRAB strains. Furthermore, CRAB isolates from patients residing in the ICUs during the sampling campaign were analyzed for genome comparison with isolates from the ICUs environment. Overall, 206 items were screened for CRAB presence and 27 (14%) were contaminated with a CRAB isolate. The items were located in several areas of three ICUs. Eight of the 54 (15%) screened people working in the wards were colonized by CRAB on the hands. Patients residing in the ICUs were infected with CRAB strains sharing extensive genomic similarity with strains recovered in the nosocomial environment. The strains belonged to three sub-clades of the internationally disseminated clone (ST2). A clone emerging in the Mediterranean basin (ST85) was detected as well. The strains were OXA-23 or NDM-1 producers and were also pan-aminoglycoside resistant due to the presence of the armA gene. Hygiene measures are urgent to be implemented in the Sahloul hospital to avoid further spread of difficult-to-treat CRAB strains and preserve health of patients and personnel operating in the ICU wards.
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