Genome-Wide Identification of Carbapenem-Resistant Gram- Negative Bacterial (CR-GNB) Isolates Retrieved From Hospitalized Patients in Bihar, India

Carbapenemase-producing clinical isolates are becoming more common over the world, posing a severe public health danger, particularly in developing nations like India. Carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacterial (CR-GNB) infection has become a fast-expending global threat with limited antibiotic choice and significant mortality. The aim of this study was to highlight the carbapenem-resistance among clinical isolates of hospital admitted patients in Bihar, India. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 101 clinical isolates of E. coli , K. pneumoniae , A. baumannii , and P. aeruginosa. All GNB isolates were tested for their antimicrobial susceptibility using double disc synergy test / modified hodge test (DDST/MHT) and subsequently confirmed carbapenemase-producing isolates were evaluated for carbapenem-resistance genes using whole-genome sequencing (genotypically) method. The overall percentage of carbapenem-resistance among GNB was (17/101) 16.83%. The AMR analysis demonstrates a significantly high prevalence of bla CTX−M followed by bla SHV , bla TEM, bla OXA and bla NDM β-lactams carbapenem-resistance genes among clinical isolates of GNB. Co-occurrence of carbapenemase-encoding genes with blaNDM was found in 70.6% of carbapenemase-producing isolates. Our study highlights the mechanism of carbapenem-resistance to curb the overwhelming threat posed by emergence of drug-resistance in India.