Genotypic Characterization of Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolated from an Egyptian University Hospital

Marwa S Taha; Maha M Hagras; Marwa M Shalaby; Yosra Abdelmonem Zamzam; Reham M Elkolaly; Marwa A Abdelwahab; Sara Youssef Maxwell

doi:10.3390/pathogens12010121

Genotypic Characterization of Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolated from an Egyptian University Hospital

Pathogens. 2023 Jan 11;12(1):121. doi: 10.3390/pathogens12010121.

Authors

Marwa S Taha¹, Maha M Hagras², Marwa M Shalaby¹, Yosra Abdelmonem Zamzam², Reham M Elkolaly³, Marwa A Abdelwahab¹, Sara Youssef Maxwell¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta 31527, Egypt.
² Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta 31527, Egypt.
³ Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta 31527, Egypt.

Abstract

Globally, Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) has been identified as a serious source of infections. The objectives of our study were to investigate the prevalence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) K. pneumoniae in Tanta University Hospitals, Gharbia Governorate, Egypt; characterize their carbapenem resistance profiles; and identify their different capsular serotypes. We identified and isolated 160 (32%) K. pneumoniae from 500 different clinical samples, performed antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and then used multiplex PCR to detect carbapenemase genes and capsular serotypes K1, K2, K3, K5, K20, K54, and K57. We detected phenotypic carbapenem resistance in 31.3% (50/160) of the isolates; however, molecular assays revealed that 38.75% (62/160) of isolates were carrying carbapenemase-encoding genes. Generally, bla_OXA-48 was the prevalent gene (15.5%), followed by bla_VIM (15%), bla_IMP (7.5%), bla_KPC (4%), and bla_NDM (3.8%). Bla_VIM and bla_OXA-48 correlated with phenotypic resistance in 91.67% and 88% of the isolates that harbored them, respectively. Capsular typing showed that the most prevalent pathotype was K1 (30.6%), followed by K57 (24.2%), K54 (19.35%), K20 (9.67%), and K2 (6.45%). A critical risk to community health is posed by the high incidence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) virulent K. pneumoniae isolates from our hospital, and our study examines this pathogen's public health and epidemiological risks.

Keywords: Klebsiella pneumoniae; blaIMP; blaKPC; blaNDM; blaOXA-48; blaVIM; capsular serotypes; carbapenem resistance.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.