[Enterobacteria producers of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase in a hospital from Venezuela]

The emergence of antimicrobial resistance due to extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) has significant clinical impact and is a public health problem. The aim of the present study was to determine the frequency of infections by ESBL-producing enterobacteria in patients hospitalized in the "Ruiz y Paez" Hospital (CHRP) from Cuidad Bolivar, Venezuela, from January to July 2011. We determined the ESBL production from all isolates of E. coli, K. pneumoniae, K. oxytoca and P. mirabilis, using a double disk synergy test and combined disk method. Of the Enterobacteriaceae isolated, 20.3% (53) were ESBL producers, the main ones being K. pneumoniae and E. coli with 56.6% and 43.3% respectively: 15.7% of all E. coli and 47.6% of all K. pneumoniae were ESBL producers, and were more frequent in the purulent samples (43.3%) and blood (30.1%). The service with the greatest number of isolated ESBL-producing enterobacteria was medicine (26.4%) followed by perinatology (24.5%). We concluded that the CHRP has a high rate of ESBL-producing enterobacteria, mainly K. pneumoniae.