Clinical and laboratory considerations for the rapid detection of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae

Carbapenem resistance among the Enterobacteriaceae has become a significant clinical and public health dilemma. Rapid administration of effective antimicrobials and implementation of supplemental infection control practices is required to both improve patient outcomes and limit the spread of these highly resistant organisms. However, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE)-infected patients are predominantly identified by routine culture methods, which take days to perform. Rapid genomic and phenotypic methods are currently available to accelerate the identification of carbapenemase-producing CRE. Effective use of these technologies is reliant on close collaboration between clinical microbiology, infection prevention, antimicrobial stewardship and infectious diseases specialists. This review discusses the performance characteristics of these technologies to date, and describes strategies for their optimal implementation.