Section Veterinary Public Health, Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Department of Agriculture and Animal Health, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa.
BMC Vet Res. 2024 Oct 17;20(1):475. doi: 10.1186/s12917-024-04322-2.
This study aimed to investigate the presence of ESKAPE organisms on the hands of students working in the intensive care unit (ICU) at a veterinary academic hospital.
A cross-sectional study was conducted among students working in an ICU at a veterinary academic hospital in South Africa. Students were sampled before the start of the ICU shift using a modified glove-juice method. Standard microbiological techniques and a series of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were used to identify and characterize the bacteria. All the isolates were tested for resistance against a specific panel of antibiotics using the disk diffusion method. Proportions of bacterial species and their antimicrobial-susceptibility profiles were calculated.
At screening, all the veterinary students (n = 62) carried at least one of the ESKAPE organisms on their hands. Escherichia coli was the most isolated organism (76%, 47/62), followed by P. aeruginosa (48%, 30/62), A. baumannii (47%, 29/62), E. faecium (35%, 22/62), K. pneumoniae (27%, 17/62), and S. aureus (24%, 15/62). A reduced proportion of isolates were recovered from the samples, E. coli (26%, 12/47), E. faecium (23%, 5/22), P. aeruginosa (43%, 13/30), A. baumannii (24%,7/29), K. pneumoniae (41%, 7/17), and S. aureus (20%, 3/15). Most of the organisms showed a high proportion of resistance to at least one antibiotic. Multidrug resistance was reported among just over half (56%, 5/9) of E. coli, 40% (2/5) of E. faecium, 100% (13/13) of P. aeruginosa, and 33% (1/3) of S. aureus isolates.
Students working in the ICU carry several organisms belonging to the ESKAPE group of organisms before contact with patients. Moreover, MDR resistance was common among this group of organisms. The findings of the present study underscore the importance of infection prevention and control (IPC) strategies to help reduce the likelihood of the spread of these organisms to personnel, owners, family members, and patients.
本研究旨在调查在南非一家兽医教学医院的重症监护病房（ICU）工作的学生手上是否存在 ESKAPE 病原体。
本研究采用横断面研究方法，对一家兽医教学医院 ICU 工作的学生进行抽样。学生在 ICU 轮班前使用改良手套-果汁法进行采样。采用标准微生物技术和一系列聚合酶链反应（PCR）检测方法来鉴定和描述细菌。使用纸片扩散法检测所有分离株对特定抗生素药物的耐药性。计算细菌种属的比例及其抗菌药物敏感性特征。
在筛查时，所有兽医学生（n=62）手上至少携带一种 ESKAPE 病原体。最常分离到的病原体是大肠埃希菌（76%，47/62），其次是铜绿假单胞菌（48%，30/62）、鲍曼不动杆菌（47%，29/62）、屎肠球菌（35%，22/62）、肺炎克雷伯菌（27%，17/62）和金黄色葡萄球菌（24%，15/62）。从样本中回收的分离物比例较低，其中大肠埃希菌（26%，12/47）、屎肠球菌（23%，5/22）、铜绿假单胞菌（43%，13/30）、鲍曼不动杆菌（24%，7/29）、肺炎克雷伯菌（41%，7/17）和金黄色葡萄球菌（20%，3/15）。大多数病原体对至少一种抗生素的耐药率较高。仅超过一半（56%，5/9）的大肠埃希菌、40%（2/5）的屎肠球菌、100%（13/13）的铜绿假单胞菌和 33%（1/3）的金黄色葡萄球菌分离株报告存在多重耐药性。
在接触患者之前，在 ICU 工作的学生手上携带几种属于 ESKAPE 病原体组的病原体。此外，该组病原体的 MDR 耐药性很常见。本研究结果强调了感染预防和控制（IPC）策略的重要性，以帮助降低这些病原体传播给人员、业主、家属和患者的可能性。
