Frequency of blaIMP, blaNDM, blaKPC, and blaVIM carbapenemase-encoding genes among gram-negative bacteria isolates from hospitalized patients in Baghdad City, Iraq

Carbapenemase-encoding genes have been spreading among gram-negative bacteria, which is considered the most important threats to human health. Metallo p-lactamases including IMP, VIM, and NDM are the most predominant types, which confer resistance to Carbapenem group. This study aimed to investigate the frequency of blaNDM, blaKPC, blaVIM, and blaIMP genes across gram-negative bacteria isolated from different clinical specimens in Medical City Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq. Fifty-two isolates were identified phenotypically using conventional biochemical tests. Vitek 2 identification system was used for confirmation of the identification. The antimicrobial sensitivity for the isolates was performed using Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. The carbapenemase-encoding genes (blaIMP, blaVIM, blaNDM, and blaKPC) were screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)- based technique. The results showed that, from a total of 52 isolates isolated from hospital in Baghdad city, 13 (25) were Acinetobacter baumannii and 39 (75) were Enterobacteriaceae (10 of Serratia spp, 17 of E. coli, and 12 of Enterobacter cloacae). According to antibiotic susceptibility results, 96 of isolates were resistance to ceftriaxone, 92.3 to ciprofloxacin, and 90.4 to cefotaxime by phenotypic testing. Within the isolates, blaVIM gene was the most prevalent gene, which was detected in 48.1 of the isolates, followed by blaIMP gene in 19.2, blaNDM gene in 9.6, and blaKPC gene in 5.7. This study reveals that the dissemination rate of carbapenemase-encoding genes was not as reported to be high among isolates. The results showed higher frequency to the blaVIM gene than other encoding genes for carbapenemase-encoding genes. These results suggest a periodic screening and follow-up program to detect antibiotic resistant genes, and also the need to develop appropriate management for antimicrobial resistance. © 2021. All Rights Reserved

Persistence of SARS-CoV-2: a new paradigm of COVID-19 management

Abstract: Full attention must be given to the follow-up of patients recovered from Coronavirus disease 2019, which developed in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Among the most serious issues since the emergence of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 has been whether those who had it can experience a second episode of infection and what that implies for immunity. The earlier studies on COVID-19 disease focused primarily on the epidemiological, clinical, and radiological characteristics of patients with CO-VID-19. However, conclusions of these studies still require to be warranted by more careful design, larger sample size and statistically well structured studies. COVID-19 is an under-studied infection, and several aspects of viral transmission and clinical progress remain at present unclear. There is a concern about the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 on various surfaces and in the respiratory system of patients who have survi-ved. One of the most concerning issues since the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 is persistence in patients and whether patients can be re-infected. After hospital discharge, recovered patients were reported to have positive SARS-CoV-2 test in China, Japan, and South Korea. In addition to the persistence of the virus, SARS-CoV-2 re-infection may occur in survivors. In this paper, we focused on the evidence of persistence and re-infection of SARS-CoV-2