A case of carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in Australia

Emergence of blaKPC carbapenemase genes in Australia

“…pneumoniae isolates with bla KPC were generally resistant to carbapenems and all other ␤-lactam antibiotics tested and were sensitive to gentamicin but not tobramycin or amikacin (Table 1). MelK was more broadly aminoglycoside-resistant and, along with the other isolates linked to Greek hospitals (SydA/SydB) [12], was also resistant to colistin.…”

“…Recognition of the first case of bla KPC in Australia in 2010, from a patient in Sydney who had been recently hospitalised in Greece (K. pneumoniae JIE2783 and JIE2784, referred to as SydA and SydB below) [12] was followed by identification of other isolates in 2012, implying heightened awareness. K. pneumoniae JIE2540 (MelK) was isolated in 2012 from a patient in Melbourne, Victoria (ca.…”

“…bla KPC-2 was reported in a K. pneumoniae isolated in 2010 from a patient in Sydney, Australia [12], but this isolate was not extensively characterised. Referral of several other carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae clinical isolates carrying bla KPC from geographically distant locations in Australia to the Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Westmead Hospital (Sydney, Australia) in 2013 prompted an assessment of their characteristics and relatedness.…”

Resistance mechanisms in Enterobacteriaceae

“…Relatively recent surveys of 3GC resistant isolates in Sydney reported a predominance of bla CTX-M-15 followed by bla CTX-M-14 and rarer ESBL-type bla SHV genes, with bla CMY-2 also common in E. coli. Published reports on bla KPC genes are limited, 29,46 although data on a 2012 outbreak in Melbourne was presented at Pathology Update in 2014. 33 The locally-dominant carbapenemase gene has for sometime been bla IMP-4 , 35,36 which still appears to persist, 32,37 although bla IMP-26 (one amino acid difference) has now also been reported.…”

Whole Genome Sequence Analysis of the First Australian OXA-48-Producing Outbreak-Associated Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolates: The Resistome and In Vivo Evolution

“…Recently, two K. pneumoniae isolates have been reported that produce either the MBL NDM-1 [7] or an Ambler Class A KPC-type carbapenem-hydrolyzing β-lactamase [8]. Furthermore, with respect to Enterobacteriaceae , Ambler class D carbapenem-hydrolyzing β-lactamase (CHDL) genes have also recently emerged in Australia with the report of a clinical K. pneumoniae isolate carrying a plasmid with bla OXA-181 [9].…”