Multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae circulation in a burn hospital, Tehran, Iran

Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae are among the most important Gram-negative bacteria that can cause nosocomial infections, especially in burn patients. It is important to determine genetic relationships in different clinical specimens as well as between clinical and environmental specimens, which can aid in detecting the source of infection. The aim of this study was to investigate multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae spread in a burn hospital, Tehran, Iran. After identification, antibiotic susceptibility testing of all isolates was conducted according to the CLSI guidelines. Further, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was performed for molecular typing. 97 clinical and 33 environmental specimens were collected. 40 (55%) clinical strains of P. aeruginosa and K. pneumoniae were highly drug resistant. PFGE findings showed similar genetic features to those seen in multi-drug resistant and/or extensively drug resistant P. aeruginosa and K. pneumoniae in clinical and environmental isolates. Inhibition of bacterial spread in the hospital can help to control health care-associated infection and subsequently decrease the morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients, particularly immunocompromised populations such as burn patients.