Achromobacter spp. are emerging opportunistic Gram-negative rods responsible for diverse nosocomial or community-acquired infections. We describe, for the first time, the distribution of Achromobacter spp., defined by nrdA gene sequencing, and their antimicrobial susceptibility in a variety of non-respiratory samples recovered from hospitalized patients from 2010 to 2015. Of the 63 isolates studied, A. xylosoxidans was the most prevalent (41 isolates), and with the exception of A. insuavis (four isolates), the remaining 10 species identified were represented by one or two isolates only. All isolates were uniformly susceptible to piperacillin and piperacillin-tazobactam and 97% to meropenem, but 76% showed resistance to ciprofloxacin. This study confirms the diversity of Achromobacter spp. in non-cystic fibrosis (CF) isolates and the predominance of A. xylosoxidans, as previously reported for CF sputum isolates. There was no apparent link between the clinical site of infection and the species of Achromobacter.
Keywords: Achromobacter; Achromobacter xylosoxidans; nrdA; identification; opportunistic pathogen; resistance.