Presence of OXA-23-Producing Isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii in Wastewater from Hospitals in Southern Brazil

The aim of the study was to evaluate the dissemination of multiresistant isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii carrying resistance genes, by samples of wastewater from hospitals in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. We obtained 303 bacterial isolates from the wastewater of three hospitals in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. For each isolate, we determined the profile of susceptibility to antimicrobials and the presence of the genes bla(OXA-23), bla(OXA-24), bla(OXA-51), bla(OXA-58), bla(SPM-1), bla(IMP), and bla(VIM). The bla(OXA-51) gene was found in 56% of the isolates, indicating the presence of A. baumannii in this environment. Of these, three multiresistant isolates were positive for the bla(OXA-23) gene, in wastewater from two of the hospitals. The results obtained in this study indicate that isolates of A. baumannii which are multiresistant and carry resistance genes such as bla(OXA-51) and bla(OXA-23) are being released into the environment in the wastewater from the hospitals analyzed. Multiresistant Acinetobacter junii, the newly emerging pathogen, were also found among the multiresistant isolates. Hospital wastewater may be crucial to the development and dispersal of multiresistant bacteria, making waterbodies reservoirs of bacterial resistance.