Trends in carbapenem resistance in Pre-COVID and COVID times in a tertiary care hospital in North India.

Background: Carbapenem resistance is endemic in the Indian sub-continent. In this study, carbapenem resistance rates and the prevalence of different carbapenemases were determined in Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa during two periods; Pre-COVID (August to October 2019) and COVID (January to February 2021) in a north-Indian tertiary care hospital.

Methods: Details of patient demographics and clinical condition was collated from the Hospital Information System and detection of carbapenemases NDM, OXA-48, VIM, IMP and KPC was done by Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 152 and 138 non-consecutive carbapenem resistant isolates during the two study periods respectively.

Carbapenem resistance in and among Indian and international patients in North India.

The aim of the study was to find out the carbapenem resistance rate and prevalence of different carbapenemase genes in and from a North Indian corporate hospital that receives both Indian and international patients. A total of 528 clinical isolates of and were included in the study. All isolates that were found resistant to carbapenems by MIC testing (Vitek II Compact) were screened for NDM, OXA-48, VIM, and KPC genes by PCR.