To evaluate the clinical value of NG-Test Carba5 for rapid detection of carbapenemases produced by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) strains.

A total of 1 210 CRE strains were collected during 2018-2022 from 77 hospitals in 21 provinces of China and were subjected to NG-Test Carba5 for rapid detection of carbapenemase. The whole genome sequencing (WGS) analysis was referenced as the gold standard method.

Overall, the NG-Test Carba5 demonstrated excellent performance in detection of five kinds of carbapenemases [Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC), New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM), imipenemase metallo-β-lactamase (IMP), Verona integron-encoded metallo-beta-lactamase (VIM) and oxacillinase-48-type carbapenemases(OXA-48)] from CRE strains, with a sensitivity of 98.47% (1 161/1 179), specificity of 100% (31/31), and positive predictive value of 100% (1 161/1 161). The sensitivity for detection of NDM, IMP, OXA and VIM reached 100% (307/307), and 97.70% (763/781) for KPC. For 11 strains carrying bla_KPC-25, bla_KPC-78, or bla_KPC-93, NG-Test Carba5 reported positive KPC detection (11/11). For strains carrying bla_KPC-33 and bla_KPC-77, however, NG-Test Carba5 delivered negative results. Additionally, for those strains co-producing two or three kinds of carbapenemases, NG-Test Carba5 was able to report all of the targets with a sensitivity of 100% (91/91).

NG-Test Carba5 showed excellent performance in rapid and accurate detection of carbapenemases from CRE strains. Nonetheless, for those strains with negative results, some other phenotypic and genotypic methods should be implemented alongside to avoid missing targets.

Enterobacteriaceae; Drug resistance, bacterial; Mutation; Gold colloid