Antibiotic Resistance of Clinical Klebsiella Isolates from Tertiary Care Hospital

Klebsiella is a pathogen that causes a significantly high number of community-acquired and hospital-acquired infections, with infections being one of the leading causes of death in ICU patients worldwide due to increasing antibiotic-resistance and a lack of therapeutic options. A total of 230 Klebsiella spp. were collected from various clinical samples. After initial identification, the drug-resistant strain was subjected to standard Clinical Laboratory and Standards Institute methods such as Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion. All isolates were screened and confirmed for ESBL/AmpC beta-lactamase/carbapenemase production. The isolated Klebsiella spp. were found to be K. pneumonia (89%), K. oxytoca (6.5%), and K. aerogenes (4.5%). Among the 230 isolates, 80 (34.7%) isolates were found to be ESBL producers via screening; of these, 53 (23.5%) were verified by a confirmatory test. Moreover, 115 isolates (50%) were screened as AmpC producers; of these, 23 isolates (10%) were verified by a confirmatory test. Carbapenemase producers accounted for 69 (30%) isolates, identified by screening; 25 (10.86%) were verified by a confirmatory test. ESBL producers accounted for the majority of Klebsiella spp. isolates, followed by carbapenem and AmpC producing strains.