The emerging extensively drug resistant bacteria in a university hospital in Tunisia in 2019

Abstract Background The discovery of antibiotics revolutionized medicine in the 20th century, however the emergence of extensively drug-resistant bacteria constitute a growing problem in our hospitals in Tunisia and across the world. This study aims to evaluate a screening program for Carbapenemase Producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) undertaken by the Microbiology Laboratory of Sahloul University Hospital. Methods A descrptive and retrospective study was carried out between 01st April 2018 and 31th December 2019 in the university hospital Sahloul, in East Coast of Tunisia. The screening was based on rectal swabs; it concerned Medical Intensive Care Units, the postoperative unit, the paediatric and the nephrology departments. The rectal swabs were seeded on the chromID CARBASMART and chromID VRE agars(biomerieux, France)in search of CPE and VRE respectively. The identification and the antibiotic susceptibilities testing were performed using the Vitek2 System (biomerieux,France) Results In total, 191 patients were screened. Among them, 56% were admitted in Intensive Care Units, 9.95% in postoperative unit, 30.9% in paediatric department and 3.14% in the nephrology department. A total of 38 extensively drug-resistant bacteria were isolated: 20 CPE and 18 VRE. Among isolated CPE, 17 were identified as Klebsiella pneumonia: The ConfirmationKPC/MBLkit (RoscoDiagnostica, Denmark) supplemented with a disc of Temocillin showed that 7 strains produced metallo-carbapenemase and 10 strains produced OXA 48 carbapenemase. The other isoloted CPE were OXA-48 producers. All VRE were identified as Enterococcus faecium, Their Vancomycin and Teicoplanine MICs were greater than 32 mg/L. Conclusions Mastering the spread of extensively drug-resistant bacteria involves a multidisciplinary preventive strategy. It must include strict application of hygiene measures, early detection and isolation of carriers and rationalization of antibiotic use. Key messages the emergence of extensively drug-resistant bacteria constitute a growing problem that`s why Carbapenemase Producing Enterobacteriaceae and vancomycin-resistant enterococci screening is crucial. Anti microbial agents use must be rationalized.