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Preterm infant gut colonization in the neonatal ICU and complete restoration 2 years later

L Moles1, M Gómez2, E Jiménez3

  • 1Departmento de Nutrición, Bromatología y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigaciones Sanitarias (IRYCIS), Madrid, Spain.

Clinical Microbiology and Infection : the Official Publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
|June 19, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Preterm infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) can acquire antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These high-risk bacterial clones were not detected in infant faeces two years later.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Neonatalogy
  • Infectious Diseases

Background:

  • Neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) pose a risk for preterm infants acquiring multidrug-resistant bacteria.
  • Understanding the colonization patterns of these bacteria is crucial for infant health.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To characterize antibiotic-resistant bacterial lineages colonizing preterm infants in the NICU.
  • To investigate the persistence of these clones in faeces up to two years after NICU discharge.

Main Methods:

  • Collected faecal and milk samples from preterm infants and mothers.
  • Identified bacterial isolates using 16S rDNA sequencing and MALDI-TOF.
  • Determined antibiotic susceptibility, genetic diversity (RAPD, PFGE, MLST), and virulence factors via PCR.

Main Results:

  • High prevalence of antibiotic-resistant, high-risk clones (e.g., Enterococcus faecalis ST64, Enterococcus faecium ST18) in NICU infants' faeces and maternal milk.
  • Greater genetic diversity observed in Gram-negative isolates.
  • These multidrug-resistant clones were absent in faecal samples at the 2-year follow-up.

Conclusions:

  • Preterm infants' guts can be initially colonized by virulent, antibiotic-resistant lineages in the NICU.
  • These high-risk clones are subsequently replaced by antibiotic-susceptible, community-acquired bacteria.

Keywords:
Antibiotic resistancegut microbiotahuman milknosocomial high-risk clonespreterm infantsvirulence factors

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