Reduced susceptibility to chlorhexidine disinfectant among New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1 positive Enterobacteriaceae and other multidrug-resistant organisms: Report from a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan.

We analysed susceptibility of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) including New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1 positive Enterobacteriaceae to chlorhexidine and compared results to their susceptible counterparts. Susceptibilities of chlorhexidine digluconate in a standard (CHX-S) preparation and two commercial disinfectants containing different CHX concentrations (2% w/v and 4% w/w) were performed. MDROs had narrower range of higher CHX-S minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) as compared to pan-sensitive organisms. The MIC values for commercial disinfectants products for MDROs were many folds higher (20-600 times), than CHX-S for in vitro use. Increasing antibiotic resistance among bacterial isolates can be an indirect marker of reduced susceptibility to chlorhexidine in hospital setting.