Presence of hypervirulence-associated determinants in Klebsiella pneumoniae from hospitalised patients in Germany

CONCLUSIONS: Our study results show that K. pneumoniae strains that carry several determinants of hypervirulence are present for many years in Germany. The detection of carbapenemase genes and hypervirulence associated genes on the same plasmid is highly problematic and requires intensified screening and molecular surveillance. However, the non-uniform definition of hvKp complicates their detection. Testing for hypermucoviscosity alone is not specific enough to identify hvKp. Thus, we suggest that the classification of hvKp should be applied to isolates that not only fulfil phenotypical criteria (severe clinical manifestations, hypermucoviscosity) but also (I) the presence of at least two virulence loci e.g. iuc and ybt, and (II) the presence of rmpA and/or rmpA2.PMID:38359735 | DOI:10.1016/j.ijmm.2024.151601

Source: International Journal of Medical Microbiology - February 15, 2024 Category: Microbiology Authors: Anika Wahl Martin A Fischer Kathleen Klaper Annelie M üller Stefan Borgmann Johannes Friesen Klaus-Peter Hunfeld Arkadius Ilmberger Susanne Kolbe-Busch Michael Kresken Norman Lippmann Christoph L übbert Matthias Marschner Bernd Neumann Niels Pfennigwert Source Type: research