One of the important causes of multidrug resistance in Gram-negative bacteria is the production of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases. Antibiotic resistance genes are usually found on mobile structures: integrons. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of class 1, 2 and 3 integrons in strains of extended spectrum beta-lactaminase producing Klebsiella pneumoniae. Bacterial sensitivity was determined by the agar diffusion method. The double synergy test was applied for screening extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing isolates. To identify the integrating strains integrons, int1, int2 and int3 specific primers were used. 91 multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniea strains producing broad-spectrum beta-lactamases were collected. Antibiotic resistance rates were high for most antibiotics tested. However imipenene and cefoxitin were the most active molecules with respectively 1% and 31.8% as the resistance rate. Only class 1 integrons with a prevalence of 47.5% were identified. This observed prevalence confirms that cassettes of integrons carrying antimicrobial genes are strongly implicated in the dissemination of antibiotic resistance in Abidjan.
