Characterization of VIM-4 Producing Clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolates from Western Algeria: Sequence Type and Class 1 Integron Description.

Objectives: Pseudomonas aeruginosa occupies a central position in nosocomial infections and remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to characterize carbapenem resistance mechanisms in P. aeruginosa isolates from clinical specimens collected at the University Hospital of Oran, western Algeria. Materials and Methods: The identification of 214 nonduplicated P. aeruginosa isolates (collected from January to December 2016) was confirmed using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. Thirteen antibiotics were tested using the disc diffusion method. Carbapenemase-encoding genes were detected with the GeneXpert system and multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Clonal relatedness was determined using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and the seven housekeeping genes were further used for phylogenetic analysis of imipenem-resistant P. aeruginosa using concatenated gene fragments. The flanking regions of the blaVIM-4 gene were analyzed by whole-genome sequencing. Results: Eleven isolates (5.39%) were resistant to carbapenems. PCR amplification and sequencing showed that six of these isolates (2.94%) harbored the blaVIM-4 gene that was carried on a novel class 1 integron. MLST analysis assigned the tested isolates to seven different sequence types (STs), of which two were new (ST3349 and ST3350) and five were previously described (ST244, ST499, ST709, ST809, and ST1239). Conclusion: In this study, we reported P. aeruginosa isolates producing VIM-4 in an Algerian hospital. The blaVIM-4 is harbored in class 1 integron with a new arrangement of genes cassettes.

Distribution of Toxinogenic Methicillin-Resistant and Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus from Different Ecological Niches in Algeria.

The diffusion of Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-positive methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is a health problem in Algeria. The objectives of the study were to investigate the global distribution of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) and MRSA isolates in different ecological niches in this country. In total, 2246 samples were collected from humans, livestock, wild animals, pets, food products and the aquatic environment, from 12 Algerian provinces. A total of 312 S. aureus were detected from 2446 samples (12.7%) in the screened niches. We observed the emergence of toxinogenic S. aureus representing 41% of the isolates. Among them, we noted the diffusion of ST80-IV CA-MRSA PVL + strains isolated in human, animals, and food and genetic diversity of MSSA PVL + isolates. This study suggests an alarming dissemination of MRSA-ST80 PVL + in both human and extra-human sources in Algeria. Moreover, MSSA may become a permanent reservoir of the PVL genes necessary for human infections.

Occurrence and clonal diversity of multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae recovered from inanimate surfaces in Algerian hospital environment: First report of armA, qnrB and aac(6')-Ib-cr genes.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to characterize the molecular support of antibiotic resistance in MDR Klebsiella pneumoniae recovered from inanimate surfaces between March 2012 to February 2014 in three teaching hospitals (Setif, Bejaia and Constantine) in Algeria. RESULTS: Forty-four K. pneumoniae producing ESBL were detected and blaCTX-M-15 and blaCTX-M-3 were detected respectively in 41 and 3 isolates. These K. pneumoniae isolates producing ESBL were also resistant to gentamicin (87%), tobramicin (87%), ciprofloxacin (66%) and ofloxacin (62%). Aminoglycosides resistance genes detected were 16S rRNA methylase (armA), aminoglycoside acetyl-transferase (aac(6')-Ib), aminoglycoside nucleotidyl-transferase (aadA2) and aminoglycoside, phosphoryl-transferase (ant3″Ih-aac(6')-IId). Plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes detected were aac(6')-Ib-cr (34 isolates) and qnrB genes in (34 isolates). Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) resulted in 12 different sequence types (STs) regrouped into 5 clonal complexes (CC147, CC17, CC37, CC2 and CC23), one clonal group (CG485) and 4 singletons (ST1426, ST405, ST1308, ST873). CONCLUSION: Here, we report the detection of the ESBLs encoding gene linked with plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) and aminoglycosides resistance recovered from inanimate surfaces in hospital environment.