Importance of Surveillance of New Delhi Metallo-Beta-Lactamase Klebsiella pneumoniae : Molecular Characterization and Clonality of Strains Isolated in the Lazio Region, Italy

• Published in: Infection and drug resistance Vol. 14; pp. 3659 - 3665
• Main Authors: Spaziante, Martina, Venditti, Carolina, Butera, Ornella, Messina, Francesco, Di Caro, Antonino, Tonziello, Gilda, Lanini, Simone, Cataldo, Maria Adriana, Puro, Vincenzo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Zealand Dove Medical Press Limited 01.01.2021; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Dove; Dove Medical Press
• Subjects: Analysis; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial agents; Antimicrobial resistance; Bacterial pneumonia; Beta lactamases; carbapenem-resistant klebsiella pneumoniae; Drug resistance in microorganisms; Enzymes; Genes; Genetic relationship; Genomes; Genomics; Health aspects; healthcare-associated infections; Hospitalization; Hospitals; India; Klebsiella pneumoniae; Laboratories; Metallo-β-lactamase; Molecular modelling; new delhi metallo-β-lactamase; Nosocomial infections; Original Research; Patients; Pneumonia; Risk assessment; Software; Surveillance; Whole genome sequencing; β Lactamase; India; United States > US; Italy; Europe; surveillance; carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae; New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase; healthcare-associated infections
• ISSN: 1178-6973; 1178-6973
• DOI: 10.2147/IDR.S318717

New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase producing (NDM-Kpn) strains have been causing healthcare-associated infections worldwide. The aim of this study was to describe the molecular mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance and to analyze the clonality of NDM-Kpn isolates collected between January 2019 and June 2020 from patients admitted to hospitals from the Lazio region, Italy. We performed a retrospective cohort study. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was performed on all NDM-Kpn strains; clonality and genetic relationships were further investigated. During the surveillance period, 17 NDM-Kpn isolates were obtained from 17 patients admitted to seven different hospitals. Eight different sequence types (STs) were detected: ST147 (n = 4), ST383 (n = 4), ST15 (n = 3), ST11 (n = 2), ST17 (n = 1), ST29 (n = 1), ST307 (n = 1) and the newly identified ST4853 (n = 1). Genetic relationships were further investigated by the WGS-based core genome MLST (cgMLST) scheme, and 5 cluster types (CTs) were identified. Whereas a substantial overall heterogeneity among isolates was detected (8 different STs were identified out of 17 isolates), the strains within each cluster showed a very high level of genome similarity. Our study highlights the key role of surveillance, which allowed taking a picture of a part of the NDM-Kpn strains circulating in Italy, adding further insight into their molecular features.