Klebsiella variicola causing nosocomial transmission among neonates – an emerging pathogen?

Abstract

Introduction. Transmission of Enterobacterales in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) can cause outbreaks of colonization and invasive infections among neonates. Two clusters of nosocomial transmission of Klebsiella pneumoniae identified by MALDI-ToF mass-spectrometry were suspected at two NICUs in July and August 2016. Aim. To assess the potential transmission of K. pneumoniae among neonates. Methodology. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was performed of K. pneumoniae isolates obtained through targeted surveillance of patients and environmental sampling. Results. WGS data revealed that patient and environmental isolates represented two species, K. pneumoniae and K. variicola . Core-genome multi-locus sequence typing (cgMLST) of the isolates identified three separate transmission clusters, in Hospital A a cluster of K. pneumoniae isolates in 12 children and two environmental samples and a second cluster of K. variicola isolates in five children. In Hospital B a cluster of K. pneumoniae isolates from three children and five unrelated isolates of K. pneumoniae and two unrelated isolates of K. variicola were found. Conclusion. K. variicola can cause hospital outbreaks of colonization and infection similar to other Klebsiella spp. Preliminary results from this study were presented at the 27th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, April 22-25, 2018, Vienna, Austria.

Hypervirulent and hypermucoviscous extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae and Klebsiella variicola in Chile

“…tropica, K. quasivariicola , and K. africana , respectively [ 1 ]. Among members of this complex, K. pneumoniae and K. variicola have been widely recognized as important opportunistic human pathogens commonly involved in hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) [ 2 , 3 ]. The clinical importance of these species has been associated with multidrug-resistance, mediated by the expression of extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) and carbapenemases [ 4 , 5 ], and more recently with colistin resistance [ 6 , 7 ].…”

Nosocomial Infection Surveillance in Neonatal Intensive Care Units of Bahrami Children’s Hospital

“…In some of the previous studies, Gram-positive cocci were mostly responsible for NIs (8,12,13,20), and in some others, Gram-negative rods were the most frequently detected pathogens (14,18,19). Due to antimicrobial resistance increment among Gram-negative rods, their incidence in NICUs is increasing, which has led to several nosocomial outbreaks in NICUs over recent years (25,26). However, in our study, Gram-positive cocci were still the most prevalent pathogens, as it was responsible for 60% of NI episodes.…”

Multidrug-Resistant (MDR) Klebsiella variicola Strains Isolated in a Brazilian Hospital Belong to New Clones

“…Klebsiella variicola is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic and non-motile bacillus belonging to Enterobacterales. The species is mainly associated with opportunistic infections, such as those of the bloodstream (BSI) (Maatallah et al, 2014), urinary tract (Potter et al, 2018), respiratory tract (Rodríguez-Medina et al, 2019), and neonatal outbreaks (Piepenbrock et al, 2020).…”