Resistance Pattern of Klebsiella from Urinary Tract Infections in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is the most prevalent infection worldwide both in males and females. Klebsiella is one of the major pathogens causing UTI. Emerging antibiotic resistance due to extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) and metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL) production has limited the use of β-lactam antibiotics for these bacteria. We isolated 66 Klebsiella pneumoniae and 11 Klebsiella oxytoca strains from urine of patients suffering from UTI. K. pneumoniae isolates were highly susceptible to Amikacin (80.3%) but were resistant to amoxicillin-clavulinic acid (74.3%). Though, K. oxytoca was sensitive to aminoglycosides, it showed 91% resistance to amoxycillin-clavulanic acid. Of the total isolated Klebsiella sp. 54.5% K. pneumoniae and 90.9% K. oxytoca were found to be ESBL producers; 33.3% K. pneumoniae and 36.3% K. oxytoca were MBL producers. Thus, prevalence of ESBL and MBL producing Klebsiella in our region is very high. Rising quantum of resistance to non-β-lactam antibiotics like quinolones in ESBL positive cases is a matter of grave concern considering the fact that these antibiotics are the first line drugs and also used for the empiric treatment of UTI.