Development of imipenem resistance in an Aeromonas veronii biovar sobria clinical isolate recovered from a patient with cholangitis

1 Servei de Microbiologia, Centre de Diagnòstic Biomèdic, Hospital Clínic, IDIBAPS, Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, Villarroel 170, 08036 Barcelona, Spain 2 Unitat de Microbiologia, Departament de Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Facultat de Medicina i Ciències de la Salut, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Sant Llorenç 21, 43201 Reus, Spain 3 Unidad de Microbiología, Hospital Royo Villanova, Avda San Gregorio 30, 59915 Zaragoza, Spain Correspondence Jordi Vila jvila{at}ub.edu Received December 7, 2007 Accepted January 8, 2009 Several imipenem-susceptible and -resistant Aeromonas veronii biovar sobria isolates with different morphologies and antimicrobial susceptibilities recovered from bile samples of a patient with cholangitis were analysed. These isolates belonged to the same clone and the imipenem-resistant strains showed overexpression of the imiS gene, encoding a chromosomal carbapenemase. These results should make clinicians aware of the possible emergence of multidrug-resistant A. veronii biovar sobria, perhaps as a consequence of previous treatment of a urinary tract infection with amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid. Abbreviations: ERIC-PCR, enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus PCR.