Characteristics of ESBL-Producing Enterobacterales Colonizing the Gastrointestinal Tract in Patients Admitted to the Oncological Hospital.

We analyzed the prevalence and genetic characteristics of the extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs)-producing Enterobacterales isolated from adult patients hospitalized in the oncological center in 2019. Out of 9372 patients admitted to the hospital, 1373 had been in various medical facilities during the last year, which was an indication to perform a screening test for ESBL-producing Enterobacterales colonizing their gastrointestinal tract. In eighty-three patients (6.1%), 85 ESBL producers were detected. These isolates included the following: Escherichia coli (n = 67; 78.8%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 14; 16.5%), Enterobacter cloacae cplx (n = 3; 3.5%), and Klebsiella oxytoca (n = 1; 1.2%). CTX-M-1-like enzymes were the most common ESBLs (n = 67; 78.8%). Two K. pneumoniae isolates (2/85; 2.4%) additionally produced New Delhi-metallo-β-lactamases (NDM). All isolates, except for K. oxytoca, were typed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and demonstrated high genetic diversity. The most prevalent phylogroups of E. coli were B2 group (n = 30; 44.8%), followed by A group (n = 25; 37.3%). These observations have motivated us to investigate the link between ESBL-E colonization and infection among patients with solid tumors.