Carbapenemases among Acinetobacter species isolated from NICU of a tertairy care hospital in Karachi.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the carbapenemases in carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter species.

METHODS

This descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, from March to December 2014, and comprised Acinetobacter species isolated from the clinical specimen collected from hospitalised neonates. The screening for carbapenem resistance was performed by meropenem and imipenem discs, and minimum inhibitory concentrations. SPSS 16 was used for data analysis. .

RESULTS

A total of 100 Acinetobacter isolates were included. The patients' age ranged from 1-28 days. The main species 95(95%) was Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-baumannii complex, followed by Acinetobacter lwoffii 5(5%). The overall resistance to carbapenem was 95(95%); it was higher 100 (100%) in Acinetobacter lwoffii in comparison to Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-baumannii complex 90 (94.7%). Phenotypic characterisation revealed that 89 (93.6%) of both the species were class D carbapenemase producers, 2 (2.1%) were metallo-b-lactamases and 4 (4.2%) were non-producers.

CONCLUSIONS

Among carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter species, the class D carbapenemases were the main mode of resistance to carbapenems.