Carbapenemase and NDM-1 production by Escherichia coli and klebsiella pneumoniae from patients belonging to a rural community in North India hospitalized with community-Acquired infections

Abstract

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, especially New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase type-1-producing strains, exhibit multidrug resistance, thus posing a serious public health threat for treatment of infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria. However, most of the studies on the problem have been confined to hospitalized patients from urban population. The present study was carried out to detect carbapenemase production among Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolated from rural population hospitalized with community acquired infections. A total of 296 non-repetitive isolates of E. coli and K. pneumoniae were subjected to Modified Hodge test for carbapenemase detection, Metallo-β-lactamase detection by MIC test strip MBL and molecular detection of blaNDM gene by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Twenty three (7.8%) of the 296 isolates were detected as carbapenemase producers, of which five (21.7%) were found to harbor blaNDM genes by PCR. Gene sequencing of all the five isolates revealed blaNDM-1 genes. The present study showed the prevalence of carbapenemase-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae in the rural community of North India and spread of NDM-1.