IDENTIFICATION OF MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT ENTEROBACTERIACEAE IN FECAL SAMPLES FROM INFANTS RESIDING IN TALARA, PIURA, PERU

Abstract

Fecal colonization by antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in infants is a potential risk for future antibiotic therapy. We aimed to determine the sociodemographic characteristics and frequency of infants who were fecal carriers of ciprofloxacin-resistant enterobacteriaceae (FCCRE) and their associated resistance genes. We analyzed fecal samples from 41 infants from the district of Talara, Piura, Peru in 2019. The pre-sence of 3 quinolone resistance genes was evaluated: aac(6’)-Ib-cr, qnrB and oqxA as well as of 2 beta-lac-tamase genes: blaCTX-M,blaPER-2 . We found that 68% of infants were FCCRE, Escherichia coli (83.3%) was the most frequent bacteria. The genotypic analysis detected: oqxA (41.1%), qnrB (26.7%), aac(6’)-Ib-cr (20%) and the blaCTX-M gene (93.3%) of the isolates with beta-lactamases. The high frequency of FCCRE alerts us of the potential risk of this antibiotic family becoming less useful over time.