Multicenter Study of Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacterales in Havana, Cuba, 2016–2021
Haiyang Yu, María Karla González Molina, Yenisel Carmona Cartaya, Marcia Hart Cásares, Meiji Soe Aung, Nobumichi Kobayashi, Dianelys Quiñones Pérez
Abstract
Surveillance of carbapenem resistance is particularly important for Enterobacterales, mainly in countries with limited healthcare resources. We conducted a cross-sectional study to detect carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales at 10 sentinel hospitals in Havana, Cuba for a six year-period (2016–2021) by the National Reference Laboratory for Health Care-Associated Infections in the Pedro Kourí Institute. A total of 152 isolates were collected with phenotypic production of metallo-β-lactamase. NDM-type carbapenemase was detected in all the 152 isolates, and KPC-type enzyme gene was simultaneously identified in four NDM-positive isolates. The most abundant carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) species was Klebsiella pneumoniae (69.7%), followed by Enterobacter cloacae complex (13.2%), and Escherichia coli (5.9%). Over the study period, among CPE, prevalence of K. pneumoniae was almost constant, while Enterobacter spp. showed slightly increasing tendency. The urinary tract (36.2%) was the most prevalent source of infection with CPE, followed by bloodstream (26.3%) and surgical wound (17.1%), being frequently derived from Intensive Care Units (35.5%) and urology wards (21.7%). This study revealed the present situation of CPE in hospitals in Havana, Cuba, showing the emergence and dissemination of Enterobacterales producing NDM-type carbapenemase, mainly K. pneumoniae.