Characterization of <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> isolated from positive samples of hemocultures and cerebrospinal fluid of children
Introduction. Infections of the bloodstream and central nervous system (CNS) caused by <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> are associated with a serious patient conditions and are often accompanied by high mortality.Aim. Molecular genetic characterization of <i>P. aeruginosa</i> isolated from positive samples of blood cultures and cerebrospinal fluid of patients under 18 years of age from intensive care units of hospitals.Materials and methods. We conducted a retrospective study of bacteremia and CNS infection cases associated with <i>P. aeruginosa</i> from 2014 to 2021. 24 clinical isolates of <i>P. aeruginosa</i> from positive blood cultures and CSF were analyzed. MICs of antibiotics were determined by serial microdilution in broth. Identification of the genes of carbapenemase was carried out using real-time PCR. Virulence genes were determined by PCR. Population diversity was assessed by MLST.Results. More than 70% of isolates showed resistance to carbapenem antibiotics. The phenotype of multiple drug resistance had 25% of the isolates. Extreme resistance was shown by 54% of isolates. The detection rate of metallo-β-lactamases (MBL) was 54%. Based on PCR data, 33% of the strains were found to have the ExoU type, and 67% had the ExoS type. According to MLST, 16 genotypes were identified. The structure was dominated by two sequence types ST654 (29%) and ST235 (12.5%). The structure of patients was dominated by children with surgical pathology - 16 cases, and there were eight somatic patients. Fatal outcome was observed in 28% of cases with bacteremia and CNS infection associated with <i>P. aeruginosa</i>.Conclusion. <i>P. aeruginosa</i> isolates from positive blood cultures and CSF samples are highly resistant to antibiotics; virulence genes were found in all isolates. Strains of high epidemic risk prevailed in the studied sample. More than a quarter of the described clinical cases had an unfavorable outcome.