Predicting Antibiotic Resistance in Gram-Negative Bacilli from Resistance Genes

We developed a rapid high-throughput PCR test and evaluated highly antibiotic-resistant clinical isolates of Escherichia coli ( n = 2,919), Klebsiella pneumoniae ( n = 1,974), Proteus mirabilis ( n = 1,150), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ( n = 1,484) for several antibiotic resistance genes for comparison with phenotypic resistance across penicillins, cephalosporins, carbapenems, aminoglycosides, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, fluoroquinolones, and macrolides. The isolates originated from hospitals in North America (34%), Europe (23%), Asia (13%), South America (12%), Africa (7%), or Oceania (1%) or were of unknown origin (9%).