Predominance of Genomovar I among Burkholderia cepacia Complex bacteremia in the Neonatal Population – a study from Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC) has been reported as an emerging cause of healthcare associated neonatal bacteremia and sepsis. Genomic speciation (genomovar determination) by recA PCR has been employed to study genetic variability among different patient populations, but no previous reports have determined genomovars within the neonatal population. The aim of the study was to determine most prevalent genomovar of BCC causing bacteremia among neonates in Karachi, Pakistan, through species-specific PCR for recA gene.

Material and Methods: Of 589 BCC neonatal bacteremic episodes detected from May 2015 - September 2016 at the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory at The Aga Khan University Hospital, 138 isolates were randomly selected for genomovar determination. recA PCR was performed on 138 isolates.

Results: All isolates were identified as Burkholderia cepacia complex by detection of BCR1 and BCR2 gene. BCC was differentiated
further into lineages and B. cepacia genomovar I was found to be the most prevalent species, being isolated from 129 of 138 patients (93.4%). B. cenocepacia which is the predominant species in cystic fibrosis patients was found in only 2.9% cases
(n=4).

Conclusions: We confirm the dominance of B. cepacia genomovarI in neonatal population in Karachi, Pakistan. Further studies are required to elucidate transmissibility and genetic similarity of B.cepacia genomovar I isolated from neonatal bacteremia cases.