Nosocomial spread of OXA-58-positive carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolates in a paediatric hospital in Greece

ABSTRACTTwelve non-repetitive Acinetobacter baumannii isolates producing the carbapenem-hydrolysing oxacillinase OXA-58 were recovered from patients in the same paediatric hospital in Athens, Greece, between November 2003 and May 2005. All isolates were clonally related, but the blaOXA-58 gene was not always plasmid-located and there were variations in the DNA sequences surrounding the OXA-58 gene in different isolates. This study emphasises the importance of the blaOXA-58 carbapenemase gene in conferring carbapenem resistance among A. baumannii isolates in Greece.