Resumen

FALCO, Aura et al. Molecular epidemiology of KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from patients in two public hospitals in Carabobo and Zulia states, Venezuela. Invest. clín [online]. 2017, vol.58, n.1, pp.003-021. ISSN 0535-5133.

Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing bacteria ( K. pneumoniae carbapenemase ) are the most important causative agents of nosocomial infections worldwide. These isolates have been identified in Venezuela, but little is known about their local spread. The aim of this study was to perform molecular epidemiology of KPC-producing K. pneumoniae isolated from two public hospitals in the Carabobo and Zulia states of Venezuela. Thirty-two K. pneumoniaei solates, phenotypically classified as KPC producers were subjected to PCR to detect the presence of bla KPC genes and their location within transposon Tn4401 , and the bla KPC product was sequenced to identify the KPC allele. Genotypic analysis was performed using repeated extragenic palindromic PCR (rep-PCR) and Multi Locus Sequence Typing (MLST). Finally, a conjugation assay determined whether the bla KPC genes were carried on transferable plasmids. The results indicate that the 32 isolates contained the bla KPC-2 variant associated with isoform Tn4401 b, and were distributed in nine sequence types (ST), one of which was new. Conjugation assays indicate that 87.5% of the isolates contain the gene bla KPC on mobilizable plasmids. In these hospitals, the bla KPC-2 gene is spreading through the plasmids carrying the transposon Tn4401 b. The most common ST belongs to Clonal Complexes CC258 and CC147, which play an important role in the dispersion of resistance to carbapenems worldwide.

Palabras clave : KPC; Klebsiella pneumoniae; carbapenems.

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