Molecular and genetic characterization of emerging carbapenemase-producing Acinetobacter baumannii strains from patients and hospital environments in Bangladesh

BACKGROUND: Carbapenemase-producing multidrug-resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter baumannii is a global health care problem. MDR A. baumannii has emerged as an important nosocomial pathogen, costing many lives worldwide including Bangladesh. AIM: To investigate the detailed molecular epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB) both from patients and the hospital environment, to shed light on genetic characteristics and transmission dynamics. METHODS: A set of 49 clinical A. baumannii strains collected during early 2015 was received from the clinical microbiology laboratory of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) in Bangladesh. Additionaly, 100 environmental samples were also collected from the hospital surfaces of Dhaka Medical College Hospital and analyzed for carbapenamase-producing A. baumannii. CRAB were identified by culture on selective plates, biochemical testing and MALDI-TOF. All isolates were characterized by susceptibility testing, realtime-PCRs, conventional PCR, MLST and sequencing. FINDINGS: Clinical A. baumannii were resistant to ciprofloxacin (100%), imipenem (91.8%), meropenem (91.8%), gentamicin (91.8%), amikacin (87.7%), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (61.2%). The majority (59%) of the isolates were MDR. All environmental A. baumannii (n=10) were resistant to imipenem, meropenem, gentamicin, amikacin, and ciprofloxacin. Strains carried the following antibiotic resistant genes; bla(OXA-23,)bla(OXA-58,)bla(PER-7,)qnrB1, qnrC1, aac(6′)1b-cr and armA. A total of 36 different clones were identified by rep-PCR and common clonal clusters were found both in patients and hospital environments. MLST analysis revealed different sequence types (ST2, ST10, ST149, ST575, ST1063 and ST1065). In clinical and environmental settings. A. baumannii ST2 dominated in both clinical and environmental settings. Both clinical and environmental A. baumannii strains with known STs carried several biofilm-related genes; bap, csuE, and pgaB. CONCLUSION: Widespread dissemination of MDR A. baumannii in the DMC hospital of Bangladesh is a serious problem.