Frecuency of carbapenemase-producing enterobacteriaceae in anal swabs from an adult unit intensive care

The carbapenemase-producing enterobacteriaceae (CPE) are one of the main concerns of global health, mainly those that are encoded by plasmids. The aim was to describe the progress of colonization by CPE in anal swabs of patients of intensive care unit (ICU) and COVID-ICU in an adult hospital from Chaco province, Argentina. A descriptive retrospective study was carried out between 2021 January to August. 379 anal swabs were studied, in 26% (n=98) CPE were detected. K. pneumoniae was the more frequent isolate. In January, in COVID-ICU, 18% of anal swabs where positive, being all identified as KPC carbapenemase. In August, in COVID-ICU, the total of positive anal swab raised to 81% and all detected carbapenemase were MBL type. In ICU, the percentage of positive anal swabs increased from 14% in January to 49% in August, where both KPC and MBL carbapenemases were detected. Of The total of colonized patients, 15% developed CPE infection. Active surveillance and control measures are necessary to keep down the spread of CPE.