A 1998 Survey of Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamases in Enterobacteriaceae in France

In a 3-month period in 1998, 79 consecutive isolates of Enterobacteriaceae producing an extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) were collected. ESBLs were predominantly TEM derivatives (74 of 79): TEM-24-like (40 isolates), TEM-3-like (29 isolates), TEM-21 (3 isolates), and TEM-4 and TEM-52 (1 isolate each). Four isolates produced SHV derivatives SHV-4 (three isolates) and SHV-5 (one isolate), and one strain produced a CTX-M-3 enzyme. The high proportion of TEM-24-like-producing Enterobacter aerogenes isolates (36 of 79) suggests the occurrence of an epidemic strain in France.