Occurrence of blaNDM-1, blaNDM-5, blaNDM-7, and blaKPC-2 genes in clinical isolates of enterobacterales with high genetic variability, from colonization and infection in patients with or without COVID-19, from a hospital in Brazil.

AIMS

This study aimed to investigate the presence of beta-lactams resistance genes and the clonal relationship of clinical isolates of Enterobacterales obtained from patients with and without COVID-19, in a hospital in northeastern Brazil.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The study analyzed 45 carbapenem-resistant clinical isolates using enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC-PCR), PCR, and amplicon sequencing to detect resistance genes (blaKPC, blaGES, blaNDM, blaVIM, and blaIMP). The main species were Klebsiella pneumoniae, Serratia marcescens, and Proteus mirabilis. Detected genes included blaNDM (46.66%), blaKPC (35.55%), and both (17.79%). ERIC-PCR showed multiclonal dissemination and high genetic variability. The main resistance gene was blaNDM, including blaNDM-5 and blaNDM-7.

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of Enterobacterales carrying blaKPC and blaNDM in this study, particularly K. pneumoniae, in infections and colonizations of patients with COVID-19 and non-COVID-19, highlights genetic variability and resistance to carbapenems observed in multiple species of this order.