Nasopharyngeal Gram-Negative bacilli colonization in brazilian children attending day-care centers

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Public Health
• Pediatrics

Background:

• Nasopharyngeal carriage of Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) in children is a significant public health concern.
• Day-care settings can facilitate the transmission of resistant microorganisms among young children.
• Understanding the prevalence and resistance patterns of GNB in this population is crucial for infection control.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of Gram-negative bacilli in the nasopharynx of children attending day-care centers in Goiânia, Brazil.
• To characterize the antimicrobial resistance profiles of the isolated GNB.
• To identify common multi-drug resistant (MDR) GNB species in this pediatric population.

Main Methods:

• Collection of nasopharyngeal swabs from children attending day-care centers.
• Isolation and identification of Gram-negative bacilli using standard microbiological techniques.
• Antimicrobial susceptibility testing to determine resistance profiles.
• Detection of specific resistance mechanisms, such as ESBL production.

Main Results:

• Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most frequent isolate (100.0%), followed by Escherichia coli (50.0%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (35.3%), and Enterobacter aerogenes (16.7%).
• All identified Gram-negative bacilli exhibited multi-drug resistance.
• No production of Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL) was detected among the isolates.

Conclusions:

• The nasopharynx of children in Goiânia day-care centers harbors a high prevalence of multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacilli.
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a dominant MDR GNB species in this setting.
• The absence of ESBL production warrants further investigation into other resistance mechanisms prevalent in these pediatric isolates.