Carriage of two carbapenem-resistance genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from hospital-acquired infections in children from Costa Rica: the importance of local epidemiology

BACKGROUND: The assessment of Hospital-acquired infections due to multidrug-resistant bacteria involves the use of a variety of commercial and laboratory-developed tests to detect antimicrobial resistance genes in bacterial pathogens; however, few are evaluated for use in low- and middle-income countries. METHODS: We used whole-genome sequencing, rapid commercial molecular tests, laboratory-developed tests and routine culture testing. RESULTS: We identified the carriage of the metallo-β-lactamase bla(VIM-2) and bla(IMP-18) alleles in Carbapenem-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections among children in Costa Rica. CONCLUSIONS: The bla(IMP-18) allele is not present in the most frequently used commercial tests; thus, it is possible that the circulation of this resistance gene may be underdiagnosed in Costa Rica.