Carbapenem resistance among clinical and environmental Gram-negative isolates recovered from hospitals in Gaza strip, Palestine

Background The world is threatened by the ongoing emergence of carbapenem resistant organisms, which are contributing to increasing morbidity and mortality rates. The main objective of this study was to highlight carbapenem resistance among clinical and environmental Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) isolates. Methods A cross-sectional study wherein 210 clinical isolates, 150 environmental swabs, and 110 air samples were collected from three major hospitals in Gaza strip: Al-Shifa, AlNaser and the European Gaza hospitals. The study lasted for seven months (September 2016 to March 2017). All isolates/samples were cultured and identified using conventional bacteriological methods. All GNB isolates were tested for their antimicrobial susceptibility using the disk diffusion method. Modified Hodge Test (MHT) was performed to investigate carbapenemases production. Results The overall percentage of carbapenem resistance among GNB was (30/247) 12.1%. Resistance to imipenem was (20/247) 8.1% while resistance to ertapenem and meropenem was (8/226) 3.5% and (2/247) 0.8%, respectively. The intensive care units exhibited the highest resistance rate 9/17 (52.9%). Carbapenem resistance among Enterobacteriaceae was (30/226) 13.2% while in Pseudomonas it was (0/21) 0%. Klebsiella spp. was the most resistant to carbapenems 13/90 (14.4%), followed by E. coli (9/91) 9.8%. Seven isolates out of 30 (23.3%) were positive for MHT. All Enterobacteriaceae isolates had a multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index higher than 0.2, while those of Pseudomonas had an average of 0.2. GNB were isolated from 19/110 (17.2%) and 21/150 (14%) of air and environmental samples, respectively. Conclusion The resistance found, after a recent introduction of carbapenem use in Gaza, shows the need for policies to prevent misuse and overuse of carbapenems, the need for infection control procedures and screening policies for carbapenem resistance on a routine basis.