Klebsiella pneumoniae New Delhi metalo-lactamase in a Peruvian national hospital

Abstract

The emergence of Enterobacteria producing carbapenemases of type New Delhi Metalo beta-lactamases (NDM), represent, today, a real problem of world public health. The presence of this resistance mechanism limits or nullifies the therapeutic options to combat these bacteria. In Latin America, the figures are getting higher, as they are reported in Guatemala, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, among others. Peru has not, to date, described the presence of this resistance pattern; however for several years it has been presumed to exist. Nine cases of Klebsiella pneumoniae NDM are described, as infectious or colonizing agents, in critically ill patients, mostly with neurosurgical pathology, of Hospital Nacional Dos de Mayo in Lima – Peru. The patients in the series described below represent the first reports of Klebsiella pneumoniae NDM in Peru.