Sink drains as reservoirs of VIM-2 metallo-β-lactamase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a Belgian intensive care unit: relation to patients investigated by whole-genome sequencing

Background: Hospital-acquired infections caused by VIM-encoded metallo-β-lactamase-positive Pseudomonas aeruginosa are a major problem in intensive care units (ICUs) worldwide. A previous study conducted in the UZ Brussel hospital revealed that sink drains of the ICU were a possible source of various multidrug-resistant pathogenic bacteria. Aim: To investigate the presence and persistence of VIM P. aeruginosa in the sink drains of the four adult ICUs and their role in nosocomial infections, emphasizing sink-to-patient transmission. Methods: Thirty-six sinks located in the ICUs of the UZ Brusse... Mehr ...

Verfasser: De Geyter, D.
Vanstokstraeten, R.
Crombé, F.
Tommassen, J.
Wybo, I.
Piérard, D.
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2021
Schlagwörter: Intensive care unit / Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Transmission / VIM-2 / wgMLST / Microbiology (medical) / Infectious Diseases
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26530891
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/415902

Background: Hospital-acquired infections caused by VIM-encoded metallo-β-lactamase-positive Pseudomonas aeruginosa are a major problem in intensive care units (ICUs) worldwide. A previous study conducted in the UZ Brussel hospital revealed that sink drains of the ICU were a possible source of various multidrug-resistant pathogenic bacteria. Aim: To investigate the presence and persistence of VIM P. aeruginosa in the sink drains of the four adult ICUs and their role in nosocomial infections, emphasizing sink-to-patient transmission. Methods: Thirty-six sinks located in the ICUs of the UZ Brussel were sampled and screened for the presence of VIM P. aeruginosa in August and October 2019. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was performed on all positive sink drain isolates together with 61 isolates from patients who were retrospectively selected (ICU patients 2019–2020, N = 46; non-ICU patients 2019, N = 6). Findings: Twenty sinks were found positive for P. aeruginosa at both sampling time-points. WGS revealed that the predominating environmental cluster belonged to sequence type ST111. Ten additional STs were identified. VIM-2 was detected among all ST17 (N = 2) and ST111 (N = 14) sink drain isolates. Based on whole-genome multi-locus sequence typing analysis of all genomes, 15 clusters of highly related isolates were identified, of which seven included both sink drain and clinical isolates. Conclusion: Our findings confirm that sink drains are a possible source of VIM-2 P. aeruginosa, probably after being contaminated with clinical waste from patients. Patients could be exposed to VIM-2 P. aeruginosa dispersed in their environment because of colonized sink drains.