We report patient-to-patient transmission of Enterobacter hormaechei isolates with reduced susceptibility to ceftazidime-avibactam due to production of KPC-40, a variant of KPC-3 with a two-amino-acid insertion in the Ω-loop region (L167_E168dup). The index patient had received a prolonged course of ceftazidime-avibactam therapy, whereas the second patient had not received the agent and still became colonized with the KPC-40-producing strain. The complex dynamics of KPC (Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase) described here highlight several key diagnostic and therapeutic considerations.
Keywords: Enterobacter cloacae complex; avibactam; omega loop.
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