Polyclonal spread of blaCTX-M-15 through high-risk clones of Escherichia coli at a tertiary hospital in Ethiopia
Journal article, 2022

Objectives: The burden of antimicrobial resistance and spread of epidemic clones are rarely reported from low-income countries. We aimed to investigate the genome-based epidemiology of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-EC) at a tertiary hospital in Jimma, Ethiopia. Methods: Bacteria were isolated from clinical specimens at Jimma Medical Center and subjected to species identification (MALDI-TOF), antimicrobial susceptibility testing (disk diffusion) and whole-genome sequencing (Illumina, HiSeq2500). Genomic data analysis was performed using EnteroBase and Center for Genomic Epidemiology bioinformatics pipelines. A maximum likelihood tree was generated using FastTree/2.1.8 based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in shared genomic regions to identify transmission clusters. Results: Escherichia coli isolates (n = 261) were collected from 1087 single non-duplicate clinical specimens over a 5-month period in 2016. The prevalence of ESBL-EC was 54.8% (143/261), 96% of which were resistant to multiple antibiotic classes. The blaCTX-M-15 ESBL gene was present in 88.4.% of isolates (122/138). Genes conferring resistance to aminoglycosides and ciprofloxacin [aac(6′)-Ib-cr, 62.3% (86/138)], phenicols [catB3, 56.5% (78/138)], sulfonamides [sul1, 68.1% (94/138), trimethoprim [dfrA17, 58.0% (80/138)] and macrolides [mph(A), 67.4% (93/138) were detected. The most prevalent sequence types were ST410 (23%), ST648 (17%), ST131 (10%) and ST167 (7%). Isolates of the same sequence type collected from different units of the hospital were highly similar in the SNP analysis. Conclusion: A high prevalence of ESBLs and dissemination of blaCTX-M-15 through multiple high-risk E. coli clones was detected. Nosocomial spread of multidrug-resistant ESBL-EC within the hospital puts vulnerable patients at risk of difficult-to-treat infections.

Antimicrobial resistance

Extended-spectrum β-lactamase

β-Lactam

Nosocomial transmission

Escherichia coli

ESBL

Author

Tsegaye Sewunet

Karolinska Institutet

Addis Ababa University

Jimma University

Daniel Asrat

Addis Ababa University

Yimtubezinash Woldeamanuel

Addis Ababa University

Sofia Ny

Public Health Agency of Sweden

Fredrik Westerlund

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Chemical Biology

Abraham Aseffa

Armauer Hansen Research Institute

Christian G. Giske

Karolinska University Hospital

Karolinska Institutet

Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance

2213-7165 (ISSN) 22137173 (eISSN)

Vol. 29 405-412

Subject Categories

Infectious Medicine

Medical Genetics

Microbiology in the medical area

DOI

10.1016/j.jgar.2021.09.017

PubMed

34775133

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Latest update

8/8/2022 1