Prevalence of metallo-β-lactamase among Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii in a Korean University hospital and comparison of screening methods for detecting metallo-β-lactamase

To identify the metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) prevalent in Korea, a total of 130 clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii (99 P. aeruginosa and 31 A. baumannii) with a reduced susceptibility to imipenem (IPM) and/or ceftazidime (CAZ) was subjected to PCR analyses with primers specific to bla IMP-1, bla VIM-1, and bla VIM-2. In addition, inhibitor-potentiated disk diffusion methods (IPD) using two kinds of substrate–inhibitor combinations (ceftazidime–2-mercaptopropionic acid (2MPA) and imipenem–EDTA) were investigated. Thirty-three isolates (29 P. aeruginosa and 4 A. baumannii) carried bla VIM-2 and two P. aeruginosa isolates harbored bla IMP-1. The enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus PCR (ERIC-PCR) pattern revealed that many of the VIM-2-producing P. aeruginosa isolates were clonally related, whereas the A. baumannii isolates were diverse. The inhibitor-potentiated disk diffusion test using imipenem–EDTA was highly sensitive and specific for detecting the VIM-2 producer. These results suggest that VIM-2 is an important MBL in P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii in the Korean hospital of this study and that the IMP-1-producing P. aeruginosa has also emerged. Screening for MBLs and strict infection control for these isolates will contribute to prevent further spread of resistance.