Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes severe infections in hospitalized patients. The worldwide emergence of carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa (CRPA) makes infections by these pathogens almost untreatable. The World Health Organization now ranks CRPA highest in the list of 'urgent threats'. Information for action to prevent further emergence has to come from insight into sources and transmission routes through smart surveillance. At present, a smart surveillance strategy is not available for CRPA. The aim of this project is to develop a globally-applicable smart surveillance strategy to guide action against the spread of CRPA. Since P. aeruginosa prefers moist niches, we will focus on the human-water interface. First, highly-sensitive methods to detect CRPA in specific environmental and human niches will be developed. Subsequently, CRPA will be collected in three study sites with increasing prevalences of CRPA, increasingly warmer climates, and different water situations: Rotterdam (The Netherlands), Rome (Italy), Jakarta (Indonesia). CRPA will be searched for in a variety of niches in the environment outside and inside the hospital, and in healthy humans and hospitalized patients. Whole genome sequencing will be performed to compare the CRPA from different sources and identify transmission routes. Our project will provide insight into the relative contribution of the different potential reservoirs of CRPA to its spread in different settings which will be used for the development of a globally-applicable surveillance strategy for CRPA to guide preventive actions.
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Prevalence of CRPA carriage in healthy individuals and newly hospitalized patients, CRPA prevalence in wet hospital environments, CRPA concentrations in aquatic environments, and the frequency and transmission likelihood within epidemiological clusters
Timeframe: 2022/2024