Analysis of antibiotic resistance of KPC-2-positive Klebsiella pneumoniae strains isolated from blood cultures in Van, Turkey

Ö. Akgül, H. Körkoca, G. Bora

Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Van Yüzüncü Yıl University, Van, Turkey. o.akgul@yyu.edu.tr

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• Microbiology

OBJECTIVE: Recently, Klebsiella pneumoniae strains causing bacteremia and showing significant antibiotic resistance have raised serious health concerns. Especially carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae has spread worldwide and caused an increase in mortality rates. In this study, we aimed to present information about KPC-2 carriage and molecular characteristics of K. pneumoniae strains showing multiple antibiotic resistance among patients in our hospital.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Blood samples were collected from patients hospitalized in the intensive care units (ICU) of Van Regional Training and Research Hospital between 2020-2021. Culture, biochemical tests, antibiotic susceptibility tests, and molecular tests were performed to identify K. pneumoniae strains isolated from blood culture samples.

RESULTS: Two hundred and sixteen K. pneumoniae were isolated from patients with positive blood cultures. Twenty-seven of these isolates showed multidrug resistance. Carbapenem, β-lactam, and quinolone resistance were particularly high. On the contrary, almost all of these isolates were susceptible to Amikacin (AK), Gentamicin (CN), Colistin (CT) and Tigecycline (TGC). Molecular analysis revealed that all of these isolates were KPC-2-positive and ST11 variants.

CONCLUSIONS: It was observed that KPC-2- positive K. pneumoniae strains with multi-drug resistance may pose a serious risk in patients hospitalized in ICU in our hospital. It was concluded that surveillance and personnel training regarding the hospital and community-acquired infections due to these isolates that show pandemic spread would be important.

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