Abstract
Thirty-five Klebsiella pneumoniae strains isolated during 1993-1994 in intensive cave units of a large Italian hospital were examined for the presence of extended-spectrum β-lactamases. Five strains showed a high level of simultaneous resistance to β-lactam agents, including ceftazidime and aztreonam, conferred by a large (130 kb) self-transferable plasmid (in 4 of 5 strains). Isoelectrofocusing and hybridisation studies suggest that these enzymes can be identified as SHV-5 extended-spectrum β-lactamases. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis showed three different genomic fingerprinting profiles, while plasmid restriction enzyme digestion revealed three different patterns, demonstrating that the diffusion of SHV-5 β-lactamase is not the result of a single strain or plasmid dissemination.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 245-248 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases |
Volume | 15 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1996 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology
- Microbiology (medical)