Carbapenem-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa at US Emerging Infections Program Sites, 2015.

Authors: Walters, Maroya Spalding and Grass, Julian E and Bulens, Sandra N and Hancock, Emily B and Phipps, Erin C and Muleta, Daniel and Mounsey, Jackie and Kainer, Marion A and Concannon, Cathleen and Dumyati, Ghinwa and Bower, Chris and Jacob, Jesse and Cassidy, P Maureen and Beldavs, Zintars and Culbreath, Karissa and Phillips, Walter E and Hardy, Dwight J and Vargas, Roberto L and Oethinger, Margret and Ansari, Uzma and Stanton, Richard and Albrecht, Valerie and Halpin, Alison Laufer and Karlsson, Maria and Rasheed, J Kamile and Kallen, Alexander

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is intrinsically resistant to many antimicrobial drugs, making carbapenems crucial in clinical management. During July-October 2015 in the United States, we piloted laboratory-based surveillance for carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa (CRPA) at sentinel facilities in Georgia, New Mexico, Oregon, and Tennessee, and population-based surveillance in Monroe County, NY. An incident case was the first P. aeruginosa isolate resistant to antipseudomonal carbapenems from a patient in a 30-day period from any source except the nares, rectum or perirectal area, or feces. We found 294 incident cases among 274 patients. Cases were most commonly identified from respiratory sites (120/294; 40.8%) and urine (111/294; 37.8%); most (223/280; 79.6%) occurred in patients with healthcare facility inpatient stays in the prior year. Genes encoding carbapenemases were identified in 3 (2.3%) of 129 isolates tested. The burden of CRPA was high at facilities under surveillance, but carbapenemase-producing CRPA were rare.

Journal: Emerging infectious diseases
DOI: 10.3201/eid2507.181200
Year: 2019

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