Multidrug Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Healthcare Facilities in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Objectives:Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a leading cause of opportunistic infections worldwide, particularly in healthcare settings, and frequently demonstrates resistance to commonly prescribed antimicrobials. Carbapenem resistance is prevalent in Latin America and the Caribbean, though there are currently limited data available from Haiti. The aim of this study was to characterize and document this phenotype in Haiti, to further inform the need for appropriate infection control, empiric treatment guidelines, and laboratory screening measures, both in Haiti and globally.Methods:The antimicrobial resistance patterns of 295 clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa were reviewed, and of these, 50 isolates were further characterized by multi-locus sequence typing and further antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Additionally, eight isolates were subjected to whole genome sequencing (WGS) to identify potential genetic correlations of phenotypic resistance.