Detection of kpc-type carbapenemases in clinical isolates of acinetobacter Baumannii

Background: multidrug-resistant acinetobacter baumannii is associated with life threatening nosocomial infections and hospital outbreaks. the organism is resistant to most commonly used antibiotics including carbapenems. aim and objectives: to study carbapenemase production among multidrug-resistant clinical isolates of a. baumannii. material and methods: fifty multidrug-resistant a. baumannii isolates were selected based on pcr identification of the blaoxa-51 gene. minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined to imipenem and meropenem. carbapenemase production was detected by the modified hodge test (mht) and the combined disc method (cdm). presence of the klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemases (kpc-2) type carbapenemase gene was shown by pcr using specific primers. results: all isolates were resistant to imipenem and meropenem. mht and cdm results showed carbapenemase production in 78% and 56% of the isolates,respectively. kpc-2 type gene was not observed in any of the isolates. conclusion: no correlation was found between carbapenem susceptibility with phenotypic detection of carbapenemase production or kpc-type gene carriage. © journal of krishna institute of medical sciences university.