Prevalence of metallo‑beta‑lactamase producing Acinetobacter baumannii isolated from intensive care unit in tertiary care hospitals.

INTRODUCTION: The emergence of Metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL)-producing Acinetobacter baumannii has become a global concern in nosocomial infections. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of MBL producing genes among clinical isolates of A. baumannii from hospitalized patients. METHODS: This study was performed from October 2015 to October 2016 at three teaching hospitals located in Isfahan, Iran. Totally, 100 A-baumannii isolates were collected from clinical specimens and identified as A-baumannii using standard microbiological methods. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was determined by disc diffusion method according to the CLSI. Furthermore, the determination of bla IMP-1, bla IMP-2, bla VIM-1, bla VIM-2and bla SIM-1 was detected by PCR. RESULTS: Totally, Sixty-eight percent (68%) of isolates of A. baumannii were recovered from tracheal aspirate. According to the antibiotic susceptibility pattern, the highest level of resistance was against ciprofloxacin (99%), while among tested antibiotics amikacin (10%) was found to be the most effective. 21%, 4%, 7% and 6% isolates carried bla IMP-1, bla IMP-2, bla VIM-1 and bla VIM-2 genes, respectively. Also, bla SIM-1 was not detected in any of the isolates. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed high rate of the MBL producing A-baumannii isolates in our region and displayed that MBLs producing A-baumannii strains are emerging threats to ICUs.