Background: Although several epidemiological surveys of Klebsiella clinical isolates have been performed, few studies have correlated the clinical isolate with disease.
Objective: To compare the clinical and bacteriological characteristics of Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteremia acquired as community or nosocomial infections.
Methods: We prospectively enrolled 158 consecutively hospitalized patients with K pneumoniae bacteremia. Clinical data were reviewed. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing and capsular serotyping were performed. We used the chi(2) test, the Fisher exact test, or the t test for statistic analysis.
Results: Underlying diabetes mellitus was more common in community-acquired than in nosocomial infection (46/94 [49%] vs. 8/64 [12%]; P<.001). On the other hand, neoplastic disease (34/64 [53%] vs. 13/94 [14%]; P<.001) and antibiotic resistance (P<.01) were more frequent in patients with nosocomial compared with community-acquired infections. Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscesses, which were all community acquired, accounted for the source of 22 (23%) of 94 community-acquired K pneumoniae infections. No attributable source of infection was found for 37 (58%) of the 64 nosocomial infections vs. 15 (16%) of the 94 community-acquired infections. Only 58 isolates (36.7%) could be serotyped; of these, capsular serotypes K1, K2, and K28 accounted for 37 (23.4%), 8 (5.1%), and 6 (3.8%), respectively, of all strains. However, typeable isolates were significantly more common among community-acquired than nosocomial isolates (42/94 [45%] vs. 16/64 [25%]; P =.01), especially for serotype K1 (28/94 [30%] vs. 9/64 [14%]; P =.02). Significant risk factors for mortality included nosocomial infection, lung infection, thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, ceftazidime resistance, inappropriate antimicrobial therapy, and septic shock.
Conclusions: Significant differences were identified between community-acquired and nosocomial K pneumoniae bacteremia. Ceftazidime resistance in nosocomial K pneumoniae bacteremia carried a high risk for mortality, and serotype K1 in K pneumoniae was more prevalent in community-acquired infection, suggesting more virulence.