Prevalence and mechanisms of resistance to carbapenems in Enterobacteriaceae isolates from 24 hospitals in Belgium

Objectives To determine the point prevalence of carbapenem-non-susceptible Enterobacteriaceae (CNSE) and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) isolates among hospitalized patients in Belgium. Methods Twenty-four hospital-based laboratories prospectively collected 200 non-duplicated Enterobacteriaceae isolates from clinical specimens of hospitalized patients over a 2 month period. All isolates were screened locally for decreased susceptibility to carbapenem drugs using a disc diffusion method according to CLSI interpretative criteria. CNSE strains were referred centrally for confirma... Mehr ...