Stool Samples of Acute Diarrhea Inpatients as a Reservoir of ST11 Hypervirulent KPC-2-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae

Abstract

China has been experiencing a rapid increase in the number of nosocomial infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae ST11 (ST11-CRKP) for decades. The emergence of hypervirulent ST11-CRKP (ST11-CR-HvKP) strains is expected to become a serious public health issue in China, considering that carbapenem resistance and virulence have converged in an epidemic clone. K. pneumoniae strains that colonize the human intestinal tract may become a reservoir of virulence and carbapenemase-encoding genes. Here, we first characterized the genotypes and antimicrobial phenotypes of ST11-CR-HvKP strains isolated from diarrheal stool samples of inpatients in Zhejiang Province, China. Active surveillance approaches based on the findings of the present study should be implemented, particularly in intensive care units, to combat the spread of ST11-CR-HvKP and to improve treatment.