Prevalence of multidrug-resistant, extensively drug-resistant, and pandrug-resistant phenotypes among Klebsiella pneumoniae collected from referral therapeutic centers in Sari, North Iran

Aims: Klebsiella pneumoniae is an important cause of nosocomial infections. The present study sought to detect resistance status and the frequency of multidrug-resistant (MDR), extensively drug-resistant (XDR), and pandrug-resistant (PDR) K. pneumoniae strains isolated from hospitalized patients. Materials and Methods: Confirmation of K. pneumoniae isolates was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for rpoB fragment. Drug susceptibility was done by disk diffusion method based on the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. According to the susceptibility pattern, the strains were categorized as MDR, XDR, and PDR. Results: On the basis of PCR results, rpoB gene was identified in all 100 K. pneumoniae isolates. Most K. pneumoniae strains showed a high percentage of resistance against ampicillin-sulbactam (93%). On the other hand, tigecycline and fosfomycin were active against 100% and 90% isolates, respectively. The multiple resistance analysis of the strains showed that 58% and 13% of isolates were identified as MDR and XDR, respectively. Overall, no PDR isolate was detected in any tested strains. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that the vast majority of K. pneumoniae strains indicated the MDR phenotype including a high resistance rate to common antibiotics. Therefore, it is suggested to implement antimicrobial susceptibility testing before prescribing, to assist in selecting the most effective agents within the antimicrobial categories for the treatment of infections with multiple antibiotic-resistant K. pneumoniae strains in hospitalized patients.