Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a bacterium frequently isolated from hospital environments. This study had the aims of evaluating the susceptibility profile of Pseudomonas aeruginosa previously isolated from patients in a hospital in Goiânia (Goiás, Brazil), performing phenotypic screening for metallo-beta-lactamase production and detecting its genes using the polymerase chain reaction technique. Seventy-five 75 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates were evaluated between January 2005 and January 2007. Biochemical identification was performed using the API 20E® system and an antibiogram was produced using the Kirby-Bauer method. Among the 62 isolates that were resistant to imipenem and ceftazidime, 35 (56.4%) produced metallo-beta-lactamase, while 26 (74.3%) showed the blaSPM-1 gene. The frequency of Pseudomonas aeruginosa that produces metallo-beta-lactamase suggests that greater control over the dissemination of resistance in hospital environments is needed.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Metallo-beta-lactamase; Nosocomial infection; Carbapenems; Multiresistance
