First isolation of KPC in Chile: from Italy to a public hospital in Santiago

Carbapenem resistance in Enterobacteriaceae is an emerging problem worldwide. Among the mechanisms involved are the production of ESBLs or AmpC associated with porins loss or the presence of carbapenemases. Among these, the KPC betalactamase has become especially relevant given its rapid spread.In this article we present the first case of isolation of a strain of KPC producer Klebsiella pneumoniae at a hospital in Santiago, in a patient coming from Italy, with a history of multiple hospitalizations for treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and subjected to several cycles of chemotherapy and hemodialysis. The strain was isolated from a urine culture on the seventh day of the patient's arrival to Chile. The isolate was resistant to quinolones, aminoglycosides, cephalosporins and carbapenems, retaining only susceptibility to tigecycline and colistin. In phenotypic test it was found to have positive Hodge test and positive synergy with carbapenems/boronic acid. Polymerase chain reaction demonstrated the presence of beta-lactamases TEM, SHV and KPC-2. None other Class A serine-carbapenemase or metallo-bectalactamases were present.