Emergence of Proteus mirabilis carrying the bla metallo-beta-lactamase gene.

Seven genetically related Proteus mirabilis clinical isolates from a hospital in Thessaloniki, Greece, exhibited decreased susceptibility to imipenem and carried a bla(VIM-1) metallo-beta-lactamase gene. PCR mapping revealed that bla(VIM-1) was part of a class 1 integron that was probably located in the chromosome and also included the aacA7, dhfr and aadA genes. This is the first description of the bla(VIM-1) metallo-beta-lactamase gene in P.