Performance of the Rapidec®Carba NP assay for the detection of different carbapenemases in Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli strains

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PurposeThe spread of infections caused by Enterobacterales strains resistant to carbapenems is a global public health problem, and early detection of carbapenemases is very important to prevent their spread. The rapid detection of carbapenemase production with the new commercial assay Rapidec® Carba NP test is based on the biochemical detection of imipenem hydrolysis. Our study aims to evaluate the performance of the Rapidec® Carba NP test in OXA-48 positive isolates highly prevalent in our country and also in isolates with more than one carbapenemase gene that have an increased prevalence and to examine whether it can be used for confirmation of carbapenemase positivity in the routine laboratory. MethodsA total of 97 strains of 94 carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae and three carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli isolated from various clinical specimens were included in the study. The results of the Rapidec® Carba NP assay were compared with those obtained by the multiplex PCR test. ResultsThe sensitivity of the Rapidec® Carba NP test was 97.8% for all carbapenemase-positive isolates. Of 90 PCR positive isolates, one OXA-48 and one OXA-48 ​+ ​NDM positive isolates were negative with Rapidec® Carba NP test. ConclusionsThe positive results detected by the Rapidec® Carba NP test make an important contribution to the early detection of carbapenemase production and infection control practices. Since two carbapenemase positive isolates were found to be negative with the Rapidec® Carba NP test in our study, it was concluded that negative results of carbapenem-resistant isolates obtained with this assay should be confirmed with an additional carbapenemase detection method to exclude false-negative results.