498. High Burden of CRO Colonization and Its Association with Infection Among Patients transferred to a Tertiary Care Hospital in India

BACKGROUND: Infections with carbapenem-resistant organisms (CRO) are increasing worldwide and are associated with high mortality. Patients transferred from outside hospitals have been reported to be at increased risk of CRO colonization and infection. The rate of subsequent CRO infection in patients colonized with CRO is unclear in a high CRO burden setting METHODS: Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon, India instituted CRO colonization screening for patients transferred from outside hospitals for infection control purposes. From April 2018 to May 2018, patients transferred from other hospitals to the intensive care unit at Medanta were subjected to CRO colonization screening using Xpert Carba R (Cepheid) performed on the day of transfer. Subsequent recovery of CRO in cultures of blood, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, urine in specimens with pyuria obtained from patients without urinary catheters, pus, and tissue were considered to be indicative of CRO infection. The association of CRO colonization with subsequent CRO infection was assessed with a Fisher exact test RESULTS: Among 457 patients screened, 205 patients (45%) were found to be colonized with CRO at admission. Genes for New Delhi Metallo-β-lactamase (NDM) were detected in 184 (40%) patients, OXA-48 in 97 (21%) patients, VIM in 18 (4%) patients, KPC in 5 (1%) patients, and IMP1 in 5 (1%) patients; >1 carbapenemase gene was detected in 95 (21%) patients. CRO infections were observed in 25 (5%) patients including 12 with bacteremia, 7 with pneumonia, 4 with urinary tract infection, and 2 with soft-tissue infection. Among patients with CRO colonization, 17 (8%) patients developed CRO infection during the course of hospitalization; among patients without admission CRO colonization, subsequent CRO infection was found in 8 (3%) patients. CRO admission colonization was associated with subsequent clinical infection with CRO (odds ratio = 2.8, P = 0.02) CONCLUSION: CRO colonization was found in almost half of patients transferred from outside hospitals to a large tertiary care hospital in India and was associated with subsequent CRO infection. Further work is necessary to understand the role of CRO colonization screening in infection control and antimicrobial stewardship in a setting with high CRO burden DISCLOSURES: All authors: No reported disclosures.