Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance Among Clinical Isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolated From a Tertiary Care Hospital in Pakistan

Antibiotic resistance pattern and extended spectrum β-lactamase production was investigated in cultures of forty Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates isolated in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Islamabad Pakistan towards novel cephalosporin (first, second and third generation), floroquinolones, carbapenems, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and lincomycin by disc sensitivity, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). Cephalosporin was reported as highly resistant (cephradine 100%, cephalexin 75%, cefeclor 87.5%, ceftriaxone 85%, cefotaxime 82.5%), lincomycin (100%), followed by quinolones (ciprofloxacin 55%, ofloxacin 47.5%, nalidixic acid 42.5%, norfloxacin 35%, moxifloxacin 25%, gatifloxacin 15%), amoxicillin/clavulanic acid 12.5%, and carbapenams (imipenem, meropenem) with the least resistance at 7.5%. About 47.5% strains were found to be ESBLs positive among which 15.8% of the strains were producing carbapenamase, 26.5% with inducible cephalosporinase of bush functional gene 2e. No inhibitor resistant TEM-β lactamases (IRT) positive strains were found. High antibiotic resistance rate against commonly used antibiotics is a disadvantage for health care system in countries like Pakistan as it can greatly effect patient management. Therefore physicians must change prescription priorities towards alternative antibiotics to reduce the burden of antibiotics resistance