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Volume 5, Issue 11

Genotyping of isolates from a tertiary care hospital in Cochin, South India Open Access

Abstract

poses a significant challenge in healthcare settings across the globe, with isolates exhibiting carbapenem resistance at unprecedented rates. Here, we characterized a collection of isolates (=64) recovered during the period September 2020 – November 2021 at a teaching hospital in Cochin, South India. The species identity of the isolates was confirmed with PCR. The major carbapenemase determinants identified were (45, 70.3 %) and (31, 48.4 %); co-occurrence of these genes was also observed in 27 (42.2 %) isolates. Other resistance genes identified included (34, 53.1 %), (42, 65.6 %), (25, 39.1 %), (32, 50 %), (33, 51.6 %), (36, 56.3 %), (35, 54.7 %) and (32, 50 %). Mapping PCR revealed the insertion element, IS upstream of in all isolates possessing this gene. Concerning disinfectant resistance, all isolates carried the quaternary ammonium compound (QAC) resistance gene, . Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of benzalkonium chloride was high among the isolates and ranged from 8 to 128 µg ml. However, low MICs were observed for chlorhexidine and triclosan, with the majority (54, 80.6 %) of isolates showing an MIC of 2 µg ml for chlorhexidine and all isolates exhibiting MICs of ≤0.125 µg ml for triclosan. Further, all isolates were strong biofilm-producers, as assessed by the crystal violet-based microtitre plate assay. The I-pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) revealed the multi-clonal nature of the isolates, with 16 clusters and 16 unique pulsotypes identified at a cut-off of 80 %. In short, this study provides useful data on the molecular features of from this region, which could be helpful to assess the local epidemiology of this pathogen and also to devise infection control strategies.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): Acinetobacter baumannii , biofilm formation , carbapenem resistance , disinfectant resistance and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis
© 2023 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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2023-11-28
2026-03-13

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Genotyping of Acinetobacter baumannii isolates from a tertiary care hospital in Cochin, South India
Access Microbiology 5, 000662.v4 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1099/acmi.0.000662.v4
/content/journal/acmi/10.1099/acmi.0.000662.v4
/content/journal/acmi/10.1099/acmi.0.000662.v4
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