Molecular epidemiology of hospital acquired OXA-carbapenemase-producing Acinetobacter baumannii in Western Iran

ObjectiveTo determine the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and prevalence of blaOXAtype carbapenemases among Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) isolates obtained from Iranian patients.MethodsThe isolates were identified from patients hospitalized between July 2011 and June 2013 in three hospitals in the Kermanshah region, Iran. All of the suspected colonies were assessed by using standard biochemical tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed on all isolates by the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. The main groups of OXA carbapenemase genes (blaOXA-23-like, blaOXA-24-like/40-like, blaOXA-51-like, blaOXA-58-like) were detected using PCR and finally carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii were genotyped by pulsed field gel electrophoresis.ResultsEighty four clinical isolates were collected from the hospitalized patients. These isolates were confirmed as A. baumannii. All isolates were found to carry blaOXA-51-like. blaOXA-23-like and blaOXA-24-like/40-like were seen in 56 and 24 isolates respectively and blaOXA-58-like was not detected in any of the isolates with similar in our previous study. Among 40 A. baumannii isolates that selected for pulsed field gel electrophoresis analysis, we obtained 6 pulsotypes (including 4 common types and 2 single types).ConclusionsOur study and our previous study (2010–2011) indicated that multidrug-resistant A. baumannii strains are spreading and carbapenemase resistance are common in Iran. More researcher and greater emphasis on the prevention of health care-associated transmission of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter infection are essential.