Identification of OXA-23-producing Acinetobacter baumannii in Greece, 2010 to 2011

We report on the sequence type and beta-lactamase content of 174 carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolates recovered from clinical specimens during 2010 and 2011 in a tertiary care hospital in central Greece. Carbapenem resistance was associated mainly with carriage of the bla(OXA-23) gene (in 72.4% of the isolates). To our knowledge, this is the first description of A. baumannii strains producing OXA-23 in Greece. During 2011, in our hospital they rapidly 'replaced' the previously predominant OXA-58-positive A. baumannii strains. Previous studies have documented the predominance of oxacillinase (OXA)-58-producers among carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in Greek hospitals [1]. Here, we report the isolation of OXA-23-producing A. baumannii from clinical specimens taken in 2010 and 2011 at the University Hospital of Larissa in central Greece. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first description of OXA-23-producing A. baumannii in this country.