The antibiotic susceptibility pattern of gas gangrene-forming Clostridium spp. clinical isolates from South-Eastern Hungary

Abstract

Introduction: Clostridium perfringens and other gas gangrene-forming clostridia are commensals of the human gut and vaginal microbiota, but can cause serious or even fatal infections. As there are relatively few published studies on antibiotic susceptibility of these bacteria, we decided to perform a 10-year retrospective study in a South-Eastern Hungarian clinical centre.

Methods: A total of 372 gas gangrene-forming Clostridium spp. were isolated from clinically relevant samples and identified with rapid ID 32A (bioMérieux, France) and MALDI-TOF MS (Bruker Daltinics, Germany) methods. Antibiotic susceptibility was determined with E-tests.

Results: We identified 313 C. perfringens, 20 C. septicum, 10 C. sordellii, 10 C. sporogenes, 9 C. tertium, 6 C. bifermentans, 4 C. histolyticum isolates. In C. perfringens isolates, the rate of penicillin resistance was 2.6% and the rate of clindamycin resistance 3.8%. Penicillin resistance was found in 6.8% and clindamycin resistance in 8.5% of the non-perfringens Clostridium spp. isolates.

Conclusion: The antibiotic susceptibility of C. perfringens isolates was in good agreement with previous publications. The rates of resistance to penicillin and clindamycin were very low. The resistance rates of non-perfringens Clostridium spp. isolates were higher than those of C. perfringens strains, but lower than those published in the literature.

Keywords:

• Clostridium spp.
• gas gangrene
• antibiotic susceptibility testing

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.