Following prolonged hospitalization that included broad-spectrum antibiotic exposure, a strain of Providencia rettgeri was cultured from the blood of a patient undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation treatment for hypoxic respiratory failure due to COVID-19. The strain was resistant to all antimicrobials tested including the novel siderophore cephalosporin, cefiderocol. Whole genome sequencing detected ten antimicrobial resistance genes, including the metallo-β-lactamase bla NDM-1, the extended-spectrum β-lactamase bla PER-1, and the rare 16S methyltransferase rmtB2.
Keywords: COVID-19; NDM carbapenemase; Providencia rettgeri; cefiderocol resistance.