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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Antibiotic Resistance and New Antimicrobial drugs
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1442914
This article is part of the Research Topic Insight into the Upsurge of Resistance in Infectious Microbes View all articles

An in-depth study on survival mechanism of bacterial isolates in disinfectants within the hospital environment

Provisionally accepted
Pue Rakshit Pue Rakshit Aradhana Singh Aradhana Singh Ravindra Singh Ravindra Singh TUHINA BANERJEE TUHINA BANERJEE *
  • Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The emergence of disinfectant resistance has become a severe threat due to reduced effectiveness. This study was undertaken to determine how bacteria adapt to survive exposure to disinfectants in the busiest section of a tertiary care hospital in Varanasi, India.Methods: Four isolates (2 Klebsiella pneumoniae, Kp1 and Kp2, 2 Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pa1 and Pa2) were obtained from chlorhexidine (CHX)-based handwash during microbiological surveillance of "in-use disinfectants" in hospital. Six disinfectants (4% CHX, 2% glutaraldehyde, 7.5% hydrogen peroxide, 1% sodium hypochlorite and 0.1% benzalkonium chloride (BAC) and 70% ethyl alcohol) were tested against these 4 isolates to determine minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal Concentration (MBC).Antibiotic profile, change in MIC on exposure to disinfectants and biofilm formation in the presence and absence of disinfectants was studied. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) was done to identify the resistance mechanisms. Result: The isolates showed the highest MBC/MIC ratio (4) against glutaraldehyde. Exposure to supra-inhibitory concentration of BAC for 21 days resulted in doubling of MIC/MBC. The majority (75%) of the isolates were multidrug resistant. All the isolates were strong biofilm producers. The reduction rate of biofilm formation decreased with an increase in the concentration of disinfectants (p=0.05 for BAC). WGS revealed multiple AMR genes including blaDIM-1, disinfectant-resistant gene and efflux pump genes. Conclusion: The study emphasized the various adaptation strategies of these isolates for survival in disinfectant environment, thus posing a huge challenge for their control in the hospital environment.

    Keywords: Disinfectant resistance, MBC, WGS, Chlorhexidine, Benzalkonium chloride, Biofilm

    Received: 03 Jun 2024; Accepted: 23 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Rakshit, Singh, Singh and BANERJEE. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: TUHINA BANERJEE, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

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