Antibiotic-resistant and metallo-beta-lactamase- producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from patients accessing healthcare facilities in Nasarawa-west, Nigeria

Abstract

Metallo-beta-lactamase- producing K. pneumoniae is regarded as the most important nosocomial pathogen, and further spread of them in the healthcare settings will pose a serious global threat in the future. The study was aimed at determining the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant and Metallo beta-lactamases - producing Klebsiella pneumoniae at some hospitals in Nasarawa West Senatorial district, Nasarawa State. A total of 250 clinical samples from urine (60), wound swab (46), blood (60), stool (60), and sputum (24) were collected and subjected to cultural isolation followed by biochemical identification and resistance profiling of the isolated organisms. From the samples, 33 Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates (13.2%) were identified. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was carried out on all the isolates by disc diffusion method. All the isolates were resistant to at least one of the ten different antibiotics tested with multidrug resistance observed in 82% of the isolates. High resistance was exhibited to Amoxicillin/Clavulanate (87.9%) and cefotaxime (75.8%). Multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index ≥ 0.2 was observed in 94.0% of the Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates. Klebsiella pneumoniae Metallo beta-lactamases production as assessed by the Combination disk (CD) method and Double disk synergy test (DDST) method showed 18.2% prevalence. The level of antibiotic resistance was high and few of the isolates were MBLs producer, while most of them were alarmingly multidrug resistant.