Hospital effluents as a reservoir of beta-lactamase- and carbapenemase-producing enterobacteriaceae.

The aim of this study was to determine the presence of beta-lactamase- (bla) producing Enterobacteriaceae in hospital effluent samples from two level II and III hospitals in Lima, Peru. The resistance profile of the isolated bacteria was identified and characterized using the MicroScan system for 18 antimicrobials, and the presence of extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) (blaCTX-M ,bla SHV bla TEM ,bla PER) and carbapenemases (bla KPC ,bla NDM ,bla VIM ,bla IMP) resistance genes was determined by conventional PCR. Thirty-two isolates were identified (20 Enterobacteriaceae and 12 gram-negative bacteria). All the isolated bacteria showed multidrug resistance. ESBL (bla TEM) and carbapenemase (blaKPC, blaIMP) genes were found in samples from the hospitals that we evaluated. The release of these microorganisms to public areas and the lack of treatment of the hospital effluents could be an important public health problem.