Fecal carriage and clonal dissemination of bla(NDM-1) carrying Klebsiella pneumoniae sequence type 147 at an intensive care unit in Lao PDR

Objectives Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) are high priority targets of global antimicrobial surveillance. Herein, we determined the colonization rate of CPE on admission to intensive care units in Vientiane, Lao PDR in August-September 2019. Methods Data regarding clinical conditions, infection control, and antibiotic usage were collected during admission. Rectal swab samples (n = 137) collected during admission were inoculated to selective chromogenic agars, followed by confirmatory tests for extended-spectrum beta-lactamases and carbapenemases. All CPE isolates were sequenced on Illumina (HiSeq2500), reads assembled using SPAdes 3.13, and the draft genomes used to query a database (https://www.genomicepidemiology.org) for resistome, plasmid replicons, and sequence types (ST). Optical DNA mapping (ODM) was used to characterize plasmids and to determine location of resistance genes. Minimum spanning tree was generated using the Bacterial Isolate Genome Sequence database (BIGSdb) and annotated using iTOL. Result From 47 Enterobacterales isolated on selective agars, K. pneumoniae (25/47) and E. coli (12/47) were the most prevalent species, followed by K aerogenes (2/47), K. variicola (1/47), and K. oxytoca (1/47). The overall prevalence of ESBLs was 51.0%; E. coli 83.3% (10/12) and Klebsiella spp. 41.3% (12/29). Twenty percent of the K. pneumoniae (5/25) isolates were carbapenem-resistant, and 4/5 contained the bla(NDM-1) gene. All bla(NDM-1) isolates belonged to ST147 and were indistinguishable with cgMLST. ODM showed that the bla(NDM-1) gene was located on identical plasmids in all isolates. Conclusion The prevalence of ESBL-producing Enterobacterales was high, while carbapenemases were less common. However, the detection of clonal dissemination of bla(NDM-1)-producing K. pneumoniae isolates in one of the intensive care units calls for vigilance. Stringent infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship strategies are highly important measures.