Trade-Offs between Antibacterial Resistance and Fitness Cost in the Production of Metallo-β-Lactamases by Enteric Bacteria Manifest as Sporadic Emergence of Carbapenem Resistance in a Clinical Setting

Abstract

Meropenem is a clinically important antibacterial reserved for treatment of multiresistant infections. In meropenem-resistant bacteria of the family Enterobacterales , New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase 1 (NDM-1) is considerably more common than IMP-1, despite both metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) hydrolyzing meropenem with almost identical kinetics.