This study states that Carbapenems are antimicrobial drugs of last resort for infections caused by multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria. Therefore, the global spread of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae, which are resistant to carbapenems, is troubling (1,2). Because of the high number of deaths associated with infections caused by these bacteria, the World Health Organization classifies Enterobacteriaceae as priority organisms for which new antimicrobial drugs are urgently needed.
Oxacillinase (OXA)-48–like carbapenemases are among the most common carbapenemases in Enterobacterales; of the OXA-48–like enzymes, OXA-181 is the second most common type (2). OXA-48 Klebsiella pneumoniae is considered endemic to North Africa and the Middle East; OXA-181 Klebsiella pneumoniae is endemic to the Indian subcontinent. However, nosocomial outbreaks of OXA-181 have occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (2). We describe the epidemiology and clonal spread of OXA-181–producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Ghana. The Institutional Review Board of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital granted ethics approval (no. IRB/0025/2017) for this study.
Reference link- https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/9/20-0562_article
