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. 2019;68(1):5-14.
doi: 10.21307/pjm-2019-001.

Antibiotic Susceptibility of Cronobacter spp. Isolated from Clinical Samples

Ondřej Holý  1 , Abdlrhman Alsonosi  2 , Igor Hochel  3 , Magdaléna Röderová  4 , Simona Zatloukalová  1 , Patrik Mlynárčik  4 , Milan Kolář  4 , Jana Petrželová  4 , Aiyda Alazraq  5 , Dittmar Chmelař  6 , Stephen Forsythe  7
Affiliations

Antibiotic Susceptibility of Cronobacter spp. Isolated from Clinical Samples

Ondřej Holý et al. Pol J Microbiol. 2019.

Abstract

Cronobacter spp. have been recognized as causative agents of various severe infections in pre-term or full-term infants as well as elderly adults suffering from serious underlying disease or malignancy. A surveillance study was designed to identify antibiotic resistance among clinical Cronobacter spp. strains, which were isolated from patients of two hospitals between May 2007 and August 2013. Altogether, 52 Cronobacter spp. isolates were analyzed. Although MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry recognized all Cronobacter sakazakii and Cronobacter malonaticus strains, it could not identify Cronobacter muytjensii strain. Nevertheless, all strains were identified as Cronobacter spp. using multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Strains were tested against 17 types of antibiotics, using the standard microdilution method according to the 2018 European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing criteria. Three Cronobacter species were identified as C. sakazakii (n = 33), C. malonaticus (n = 18), and C. muytjensii (n = 1); all isolates were susceptible to all tested antibiotics. All strains were PCR-negative for bla TEM, bla SHV, and bla CTX-M β-lactamase genes, as well. Even though the results of this study showed that Cronobacter spp. isolates were pan-susceptible, continued antibiotic resistance surveillance is warranted.

Cronobacter spp. have been recognized as causative agents of various severe infections in pre-term or full-term infants as well as elderly adults suffering from serious underlying disease or malignancy. A surveillance study was designed to identify antibiotic resistance among clinical Cronobacter spp. strains, which were isolated from patients of two hospitals between May 2007 and August 2013. Altogether, 52 Cronobacter spp. isolates were analyzed. Although MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry recognized all Cronobacter sakazakii and Cronobacter malonaticus strains, it could not identify Cronobacter muytjensii strain. Nevertheless, all strains were identified as Cronobacter spp. using multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Strains were tested against 17 types of antibiotics, using the standard microdilution method according to the 2018 European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing criteria. Three Cronobacter species were identified as C. sakazakii (n = 33), C. malonaticus (n = 18), and C. muytjensii (n = 1); all isolates were susceptible to all tested antibiotics. All strains were PCR-negative for bla TEM, bla SHV, and bla CTX-M β-lactamase genes, as well. Even though the results of this study showed that Cronobacter spp. isolates were pan-susceptible, continued antibiotic resistance surveillance is warranted.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

Author does not report any financial or personal connections with other persons or organizations, which might negatively affect the contents of this publication and/or claim authorship rights to this publication.

References

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