Risk factors for rectal colonization of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in a tertiary care hospital: a case-control study from Turkey

Background/aim: This study aimed to evaluate the risk factors of patients colonized with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE).

Materials and methods: The study was conducted between January 2010 and March 2016. The colonized group consisted of patients who had a CRE strain in their rectal swab cultures, whereas patients with negative rectal surveillance cultures for CRE who were concurrently hospitalized in the same units with the colonized group patients were included in the control group.

Results: The number of patients in the colonized and the control group was 71 and 120, respectively. Both groups were evaluated for demographic and healthcare-associated characteristics. Isolated microorganisms in rectal surveillance cultures for CRE were Klebsiella pneumoniae (75.5%), Escherichia coli (15.5%), Enterobacter cloacae (4.2%), Klebsiella oxytoca (1.4%), and Klebsiella terrigena (1.4%). The isolates were resistant to imipenem, meropenem, and ertapenem (52.1%, 73.2%, and 100%, respectively). In multivariate analysis, presence of decubitus, colistin usage, glycopeptide usage, and fluoroquinolone usage were found to be independent risk factors for CRE colonization. There was no significant difference between the two groups with regards to mortality (P = 0.070).

Conclusion: These results are in agreement with the current literature. The findings of this study could be useful for improvement of infection control strategies related to CRE