Molecular Epidemiological Characteristics of Carbapenem Resistantfrom Hospital Wastewater.
Research article published in Infection and drug resistance (2024)
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hospital wastewater (HWW) promotes the spread of carbapenem resistance genes (CRGs). Aeromonas carry a large number of CRGs in HWW, they may play a role as a suitable reservoir for CRGs, while resistomes in HWW are still poorly characterized regarding carbapenem resistant Aeromonas. Thus, the aim of the study was to evaluate the molecular epidemiological characteristics of carbapenem resistant Aeromonas in HWW. METHODS: A total of 33 carbapenem resistant Aeromonas were isolated from HWW. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were used to assess the antimicrobial resistance profiles. Molecular typing was performed using enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus PCR (ERIC-PCR) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). The horizontal transmission mode of bla KPC was explored through conjugation and transformation experiments. The stability of bla KPC-IncP-6 plasmids was assessed through plasmid stability and in vitro competition test. The PCR mapping method was used to investigate the structural diversity of bla KPC. RESULTS: The detection rates of bla KPC and cphA in Aeromonas were 97.0% and 39.4% respectively. Aeromonas caviae were grouped into 13 clusters by ERIC-PCR and 12 STs by MLST. Aeromonas veronii were grouped into 11 clusters by ERIC-PCR and 4 STs by MLST. 56.3% bla KPC were located on mobilizable IncP-6 plasmids. bla KPC-IncP-6 plasmid showed high stability and low cost fitness. CONCLUSION: Carbapenem resistant Aeromonas from HWW mainly carried bla KPC, which exhibited great structural diversity. Aeromonas might serve as reservoirs for bla KPC and bla KPC might spread mainly through transformation in HWW.
Abstract sourced from PubMed (NCBI) for the cited record. See the original publication for the authoritative version.
Summary
Hospital wastewater (HWW) promotes the spread of carbapenem resistance genes (CRGs).carry a large number of CRGs in HWW, they may play a role as a suitable reservoir for CRGs, while resistomes in HWW are still poorly characterized regarding carbapenem resistant.
Why This Matters for Hirudotherapy
This molecular-epidemiology study isolated 33 carbapenem-resistant Aeromonas from hospital wastewater and found a very high blaKPC detection rate, with many blaKPC genes located on mobilizable IncP-6 plasmids that were stable and imposed low fitness cost, concluding that Aeromonas can act as reservoirs for blaKPC and may spread it mainly via transformation. This is directly pertinent to hirudotherapy safety because Aeromonas is the dominant symbiont of the medicinal leech gut and the usual cause of post-leech infections; evidence that environmental Aeromonas readily carry and transmit carbapenem-resistance genes underscores why empiric antibiotic choices for leech-associated infection cannot be assumed effective and should track local resistance. The honest caveat is that these are hospital-wastewater isolates studied for gene transmissibility, not leech-derived strains or clinical leech infections, so the link to hirudotherapy is by genus and mechanism rather than direct observation.
Citation
Molecular Epidemiological Characteristics of Carbapenem Resistantfrom Hospital Wastewater.
Zhang Q et al. · Infection and drug resistance, 2024
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