The hospital environment versus carriage: transmission pathways for third-generation cephalosporin-resistant bacteria in blood in neonates in a low-resource country healthcare setting

Kovacs, D., Silago, V., Msanga, D. R., Mshana, S. E., Seni, J., Oravcova, K. and Matthews, L. (2022) The hospital environment versus carriage: transmission pathways for third-generation cephalosporin-resistant bacteria in blood in neonates in a low-resource country healthcare setting. Scientific Reports, 12, 8347. (doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-11626-6) (PMID:35589773) (PMCID:PMC9120020)

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Abstract

Neonatal bloodstream infections (BSI) can lead to sepsis, with high morbidity and mortality, particularly in low-income settings. The high prevalence of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant organisms (3GC-RO) complicates the management of BSI. Whether BSI is linked to carriage of 3GC-RO, or to acquisition from the hospital environment is important for infection prevention and control, but the relationship remains unclear, especially in low-income settings. At a tertiary hospital in Mwanza, Tanzania, we screened neonatal blood and rectal samples from 200 neonates, and 400 (hospital) environmental samples. We used logistic regression to identify risk factors, and Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests and randomisation analyses to compare distributions of species and resistance patterns to assess potential routes of transmission. We found that BSIs caused by 3GC-RO were frequent (of 59 cases of BSI, 55 were caused by 3GC-RO), as was carriage of 3GC-RO, particularly Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Acinetobacter species. In the 28 infants with both a carriage and blood isolate, there were more (4 of 28) isolate pairs of the same species and susceptibility profile than expected by chance (p < 0.05), but most pairs were discordant (24 of 28). Logistic regression models found no association between BSI and carriage with either 3GC-RO or only 3GC-R K. pneumoniae. These analyses suggest that carriage of 3GC-RO is not a major driver of BSI caused by 3GC-RO in this setting. Comparison with environmental isolates showed very similar distributions of species and resistance patterns in the carriage, BSI, and the environment. These similar distributions, a high frequency of Acinetobacter spp. isolations, the lack of strong association between carriage and BSI, together with the high proportion of 3GC-RO in BSI all suggest that these neonates acquire multidrug-resistant carriage and blood isolates directly from the hospital environment.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Oravcova, Dr Katarina and Matthews, Professor Louise and Kovacs, Dorottya
Authors: Kovacs, D., Silago, V., Msanga, D. R., Mshana, S. E., Seni, J., Oravcova, K., and Matthews, L.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
Journal Name:Scientific Reports
Publisher:Nature Research
ISSN:2045-2322
ISSN (Online):2045-2322
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2022 The Authors
First Published:First published in Scientific Reports 12: 8347
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
303374Supporting the National Action Plan for Antimicrobial Resistance (SNAP-AMR) in TanzaniaShona HiltonMedical Research Council (MRC)MR/S004815/1Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine