Open AccessDetection of Antimicrobial Resistance and Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase Production in Klebsiella Pneumoniae Strains from Infected Neonates
Author(s) -
Elif Aktaş,
Nimet Yiğit,
Halil Yazgı,
Ahmet Ayyıldız
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of international medical research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.421
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1473-2300
pISSN - 0300-0605
DOI - 10.1177/147323000203000414
Subject(s) - klebsiella pneumoniae , meropenem , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , antibiotics , antibiotic resistance , ampicillin , antimicrobial , beta lactamase , incidence (geometry) , biology , escherichia coli , biochemistry , gene , physics , optics
The present study was designed to determine the antimicrobial resistance and extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) activities of Klebsiella pneumoniae strains isolated from the neonatal intensive care unit of Atatürk University Hospital, Erzurum, Turkey. Antibiotic susceptibility of 40 isolates was detected by the standard disk diffusion method according to the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards Guidelines. The double-disk synergy method was used to determine ESBL activity, which is associated with resistance to β-lactam antibiotics. Twenty-four (60%) of 40 K. pneumoniae strains were found to produce ESBL. Of the antibiotics tested, meropenem was found to be the most effective (100%), and ampicillin the least effective (0%). With the increasing incidence of antimicrobial resistance, which poses a clinically significant risk to vulnerable patients, it is important that clinical microbiology laboratories have accurate and timely information concerning the strains of bacteria present to enable them to predict which antibiotics are likely to be effective in treating the infections they may cause.