P15 Elizabethkingia anophelis became the major Elizabethkingia species in bacteraemia patients in Northern Taiwan

Abstract

Abstract Background Elizabethkingia species are antibiotic-resistant microbes. It is a serious bacterial pathogen that can cause the patient to die. Thanks to the technology of sequencing, we can identify different strains of Elizabethkingia species. The Elizabethkingia genus currently comprises 6 species, E. meningoseptica, E. miricola, E. anophelis, E. bruuniana, E. ursingii and E. occul. In the previous study in Taiwan, E. meningoseptica was the major strain that caused infection from 2009 to 2016. But in another reference, we found that E. anophelis became the dominant strain in other countries. Due to this ascertainment, we did an experiment to check the true situation in Taiwan. Methods Because of the limitation of the tool, in our hospital, we could spread different strains of Elizabethkingia Species by the traditionally identified methods in our bacteria room. That's why we collected the bacteria to our bacteria bank for research. In this study, we collected 65 Elizabethkingia species from bacteraemia patients. And the storage period from January 2018 to June 2020. Then we used the DNA extraction kit to collect the DNA and did the PCR to check whether the target gene was detected or not. Once anoR gene was detected, it would be E. anophelis, if the mengF gene was detected, it would be E. meningoseptica, or if the ureGF gene was detected, it would be E. miricola. Results In this study, we found E. anophelis became the major species (37/65, 56.9%), and E. meningoseptica is the second most common species (28/65, 43.1%). We didn't find any E. miricola. Conclusions The transmission route of E. anophelis remains unclear. The case-fatality rate of patients with E. anophelis infection is critically high, ranging from 24% to 60%. To avoid hospital associated infection with E. anophelis, environment cleaning plays an important role. In a recent study, UVC machines can reduce the infection rate, and may be another solution for environment cleaning besides bleach wipes.