Distribution of blaOXA-carrying imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter spp. in 3 hospitals in Taiwan.

Abstract We investigated the molecular epidemiology and OXA-type carbapenemase genes of 83 imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter spp. collected from 2 university hospitals (hospitals A and B) and a regional hospital (hospital C) during 2007 in Taiwan. Genotyping by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis identified 51 pulsotypes. None of the pulsotypes established predominance throughout the 3 hospitals. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction of bla OXA genes showed that 100% (18/18), 91%(31/34), and 100% (31/31) of the Acinetobacter spp. collected from hospital A, B, and C, respectively, possessed bla OXA-51–like genes. None of the strains carrying bla OXA-23–like and bla OXA-24–like genes were found in hospital A. The coexistences of bla OXA-51–like/ bla OXA-23–like and bla OXA-51–like/ bla OXA-24–like genes detected in hospitals B and C were 26% (9/34) and 12% (4/34) and 58% (18/31) and 3% (1/31), respectively. Among bla OXA-23–like gene-carrying isolates collected from hospitals, clonal spread of strains carrying the bla OXA-23 gene was detected in the regional hospital but not the other 2 university hospitals. The results suggest that interhospital dissemination of imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter spp. was not found in these hospitals. The increasing percentage of OXA-23 in OXA-type carbapenemases in Acinetobacter spp. from the regional hospitals to medical centers deserves further attention in Taiwan.