Molecular detection of blaOXA-23 gene and blaOXA-51 gene in carbapenem resistant strains of Acinetobacter baumannii in patients with ventilator associated pneumonia at tertiary care hospitals.

Objective: To evaluate carbapenem resistance and to detect blaOXA-23 and blaOXA-51 genes in carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumanii isolates recovered from patients having pneumonia secondary to ventilation.

Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2017 to June 2018 at the Department of Microbiology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan, and comprised endotracheal aspirates / tracheobroncheal lavage samples from patients irrespective of age and gender who developed pneumonia after being on the ventilator for 48 hrs at the Combined Military Hospital, and Jinnah Hospital, Lahore. The samples were inoculated on MacConkey and blood agar and aerobically incubated at a temperature of 370C for 18-24 hours.