[Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae following foreign travel]

Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2010:154:A2013.
[Article in Dutch]

Abstract

This is the first report of 3 patients in whom carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae was identified in the Netherlands following foreign travel. They were a 55-year-old man who had undergone chemotherapy for lung cancer metastases, a 66-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man. The first patient was transferred from a Greek hospital; his isolate belonged to an epidemic clone (multilocus sequence type 258) with a KPC-2 carbapenemase gene. The patient died from pneumonia. The other two patients, who had been travelling around in India, were found to be colonised in the gasto-intestinal tract with different multiresistant K. pneumoniae isolates containing a New Delhi metallo-carbapenemase gene (NDM-1). The rapid emergence and dissemination of Enterobacteriaceae resistant to carbapenems such as imipenem and meropenem poses a considerable threat to clinical patient care and public health. Carbapenemase-producing strains are characterized by resistance to nearly all available beta-lactam antibiotics including cephalosporins and carbapenems. These strains are often also resistant to other classes of antibiotics. Invasive infections by these strains are associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Adequate microbiological laboratory detection and infection control measures in hospital are pivotal to preventing dissemination in the Dutch healthcare setting.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Bacterial Typing Techniques
  • Carbapenems / pharmacology*
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Klebsiella Infections / diagnosis
  • Klebsiella Infections / drug therapy*
  • Klebsiella pneumoniae / drug effects*
  • Klebsiella pneumoniae / genetics
  • Male
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Middle Aged
  • Mutation
  • Travel*
  • beta-Lactamases

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Carbapenems
  • beta-Lactamases
  • carbapenemase-2, Klebsiella pneumoniae