Abstract
Background
The rapid detection of carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPOs) directly from blood cultures (BC) positive for Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) may accelerate the appropriate treatment of at-risk patients. Our objective was to evaluate the performance of two commercial assays in the rapid detection of CPOs directly from BC positive for GNB.
Methods
BC positive for GNB, taken from patients within the Calgary Health Zone over a 3 month period, were tested for the presence of CPOs with βCARBA® and NG-Test® CARBA 5. A subset of sterile BC samples was seeded with multi-drug-resistant (MDR) GNB. BC were incubated using the Bact-Alert™ system. Positive BC from clinical and seeded samples was tested directly with βCARBA and CARBA 5 from BC pellets processed for direct testing using an ammonium chloride lysis and wash method. Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value (NPV) and positive predictive value (PPV) were calculated with 95% confidence intervals for binomial proportions.
Results
65 samples were tested (30 clinical, 35 seeded). Seeded samples included 1 GES, 4 IMP, 6 KPC, 1 co-producing KPC and NDM, 9 OXA, 4 VIM, 5 NDM, and 5 non-CPO carbapenem-resistant organisms. βCARBA had a sensitivity, specificity, NPV and PPV of 100% (88.4% - 100%), 65.7% (47.8–80.9%), 100%, and 71.4% (61.3%–79.8%), respectively. CARBA 5 had a sensitivity, specificity, NPV and PPV of 90.0% (73.5%–97.9%), 100% (90.0%–100%), 92.1% (80.0%–97.2%), and 100%. When excluding GES, which is known not to be detected by CARBA 5, sensitivity and NPV increased to 93.1% (77.2%–99.2%) and 93.1% (78.0%–98.1%), respectively. False negatives for βCARBA occurred with 1 VIM-1 and IMP-14.
Conclusion
This study demonstrates that the detection of CPOs directly from positive BC can be accurately achieved. βCARBA had excellent sensitivity but suffered from poor specificity. CARBA 5 had good sensitivity and specificity but is unable to detect certain CPOs. Testing positive BC directly using βCARBA and/or CARBA 5 may be useful in rapidly detecting CPOs. Results of direct testing from the CARBA5 assay would quickly identify patients amenable to treatment with avibactam combination compounds.
Disclosures
All authors: No reported disclosures.
Rapid detection of bacterial growth in blood cultures by bioluminescent assay of bacterial ATP.
