Prevalence of the cat carbapenemase gene (cfiA) among clinical and normal flora isolates of Bacteroides species in Hungary

The carbapenemase gene (cfi4) was detected in 4 (5.7%) of 70 clinical isolates of Bacteroides fragilis from different parts of Hungary. Among 24 other Bacteroides species isolated from infectious processes or from normal faecal flora, none was cfiA-positive. The MIC of imipenem and meropenem for all cfiA-positive B. fragilis isolates was less than or equal to 0.25 mg/L, but 17% of the B, fragilis and 46% of the non-fragilis Bacteroides isolates exhibited reduced susceptibility to imipenem (MICs 0.5-2 mg/L). Only one of these isolates produced increased le;els of beta-lactamase. No difference was observed in the outer-membrane proteins of B. fragilis isolates that harboured the cfiA gene and those,vith reduced susceptibilty to imipenem.