Clinical and Molecular Profile of Carbapenem Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae Infections in a Tertiary Care Hospital –Mangalore

PURPOSE: Carbapenemase producing Klebsiella pneumoniae infection has increased in recent years, leading to limitations in treatment options. The present study was undertaken to detect the Carbapenemase-producing genes in K. pneumoniae, the risk factors for acquiring them, and their impact on clinical outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This prospective study included 786 clinically significant K. pneumoniae isolates. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done by conventional method, carbapenem-resistant isolates were screened by carba NP test, and positive isolates were further evaluated by multiplex PCR method. The patient’s clinical and demographic details, co morbidity, and mortality were collected. Multivariate analysis was performed to check risk factors for acquiring CRKP infection. RESULTS: The results of our study showed high prevalence of CRKP (68%). The variables subjected to the multivariate analysis found that diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, COPD, use of immunosuppressants, previous hospitalization history, previous surgery, and parenteral nutrition are found to be significantly associated with carbapenem resistant K. pneumoniae infection. Clinical outcomes revealed that patients in the CRKP group had higher risk of mortality and were discharged against medical advice, and they also had higher rate of septic shock. Most of the isolates carried blaNDM-1 and blaOXA-48 carbapenemase genes. Additionally, the co-existence of blaNDM-1 and blaOXA-48 was found in our isolates. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of CRKP was alarmingly high in our hospital with the limited choice of antibiotics. This was associated with high mortality and morbidity with the increase in health care burden. While this information is important to treat critically ill patients with higher antibiotics, strict infection control practices need to be in place to prevent the spread of these infections in the hospital. Clinicians need to be aware of this infection to use appropriate antibiotics to save the lives of critically ill patients with the infection.