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Emergence of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance (MCR-1) among Escherichia coli isolated from South African patients

Jennifer Coetzee, Craig Corcoran, Elizabeth Prentice, Mischka Moodley, Marc Mendelson, Laurent Poirel, Patrice Nordmann, Adrian John Brink

Abstract


The polymyxin antibiotic colistin is an antibiotic of last resort for the treatment of extensively drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, including carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae. The State of the World’s Antibiotics report in 2015 highlighted South Africa (SA)’s increasing incidence of these ‘superbugs’ (3.2% of Klebsiella pneumoniae reported from SA were carbapenemase producers), and in doing so, underscored SA’s increasing reliance on colistin as a last line of defence. Colistin resistance effectively renders such increasingly common infections untreatable. 


Authors' affiliations

Jennifer Coetzee, Departments of Clinical Microbiology and Molecular Sciences, Ampath Reference Laboratory, Centurion, Pretoria, South Africa

Craig Corcoran, Departments of Clinical Microbiology and Molecular Sciences, Ampath Reference Laboratory, Centurion, Pretoria, South Africa

Elizabeth Prentice, Departments of Clinical Microbiology and Molecular Sciences, Ampath Reference Laboratory, Centurion, Pretoria, South Africa

Mischka Moodley, Ampath National Laboratory Services, Cape Town, South Africa

Marc Mendelson, Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Laurent Poirel, Emerging Antibiotic Resistance Unit, Department of Medical and Molecular Microbiology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Science, University of Fribourg, Switzerland

Patrice Nordmann, Emerging Antibiotic Resistance Unit, Department of Medical and Molecular Microbiology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Science, University of Fribourg, Switzerland

Adrian John Brink, Ampath National Laboratory Services, Milpark Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa

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Keywords

Escherichia coli; Colistin resistance; South Africa

Cite this article

South African Medical Journal 2016;106(5):449-450. DOI:10.7196/SAMJ.2016.v106i5.10710

Article History

Date submitted: 2016-02-24
Date published: 2016-04-19

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