3.2 Molecular identification and phenotypic characterisation ofP. aeruginosa AUST-03 (ST242) isolates from the study
A total of 10 P. aeruginosa ST242 and one P. aeruginosaST242 strains as confirmed with PCR and MLST were isolated from the sputum of P2 and P4, respectively. In total, 11 epidemicP. aeruginosa ST 242 (AUST-03) strains were recovered from the patients and the results of AST showed that the majority of the strains from P2 [70% (7/10)] were MDR, while the one isolate from P4 was XDR. The following antibiotic resistance rates were recorded among theP. aeruginosa AUST-03 strains from the study: ciprofloxacin 100% (11/11), cefepime 73% (8/11), gentamicin 64% (7/11), amikacin 36% (4/11), tobramycin 18% (2/11), ceftazidime 18% (2/11), imipenem 18% (2/11), piperacillin-tazobactam 18% (2/11), meropenem 9% (1/11), aztreonam 9% (1/11) and 9% colistin (1/11). Table 2 details the morphological characteristics and AST profiles of the P. aeruginosa AUST-03 strains detected in the study.