Nosocomial infections: Importance of rapid and early detection of ESBL Enterobacteriaceae by molecular biology

Abstract

Nosocomial infections are a major public health problem. They are mainly caused by bacteria that often present antibiotic resistance profiles, which complicates their management. The diagnosis of these infections is based on clinical and biological criteria that lack sensitivity and specificity, and on microbiological examinations that are lengthy. Unfortunately, the inadequate empirical antibiotic therapy in many cases, and the late implementation of an effective treatment, are associated with the emergence and spread of bacteria that are multi-resistant to antibiotics, i.e. strains producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL). Rapid diagnostic methods, identifying the pathogen and its resistance profile, are therefore necessary. Our laboratory is committed to develop PCR techniques to genotypically identify the most frequent ESBLs from four hospital facilities. Among all the enterobacteria detected, we observed the predominance of OXA type ESBL (38%), followed by CTX-M type ESBL (33%). TEM and SHV genes represent respectively 19% and 10%.The optimization of these technologies could allow the identification of all known resistance mechanisms in only a few hours and find new preventive or curative strategies in the fight against these nosocomial infections, to better respond to this health threat.