To the Editor: The editorial by Looke and colleagues in the 18 March 2013 issue of the Journal highlighted the increasing threat of gram-negative resistance.1 Since its description in 2009,2 gram-negative bacteria carrying the gene for New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) production have been observed globally. To date, a small number of cases have been reported in adults in Australia.3-5 In all cases, patients travelled to the Indian subcontinent; many required hospitalisation for their infection. We report the first case of NDM-1-producing Enterobacteriaceae in a young infant who had not travelled outside Australia.
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- 1. Looke DF, Gottlieb T, Jones CA, Paterson DL. Gram-negative resistance: can we combat the coming of a new “Red Plague”? Med J Aust 2013; 198: 243-244. <MJA full text>
- 2. Yong D, Toleman MA, Giske CG, et al. Characterization of a new metallo-beta-lactamase gene, bla(NDM-1), and a novel erythromycin esterase gene carried on a unique genetic structure in Klebsiella pneumoniae sequence type 14 from India. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2009; 53: 5046-5054.
- 3. Poirel L, Lagrutta E, Taylor P, et al. Emergence of metallo-β-lactamase NDM-1-producing multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli in Australia. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2010; 54: 4914-4916.
- 4. Rogers BA, Sidjabat HE, Silvey A, et al. Treatment options for New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-harboring enterobacteriaceae. Microb Drug Resist 2013; 19: 100-103.
- 5. Sidjabat H, Nimmo GR, Walsh TR, et al. Carbapenem resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae due to the New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase. Clin Infect Dis 2011; 52: 481-484.
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