Treatment and Resistance
Treatment for Klebsiella pneumonia is by antibiotics such as aminoglycosides and cephalosporins, the choice depending upon the patient’s health condition, medical history and severity of the disease.
However, Klebsiella possesses a chromosomal class A beta-lactamase giving it resistance to ampicillin. Many strains have acquired an extended-spectrum beta-lactamase with additional resistance to carbenicillin, amoxicillin, and increasingly to ceftazidime. The bacteria remain largely susceptible to aminoglycosides and cephalosporins. Varying degrees of inhibition of the beta-lactamase with clavulanic acid have been reported. Infections due to multidrug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens in the ICU have invoked the re-emergence of colistin, an antibiotic that had rarely been used for decades. However, colistin-resistant strains of K. pneumoniae have been reported in Greek ICUs. In 2009, strains of K. pneumoniae with gene called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (shortened NDM-1) that even gives resistance against intravenous antibiotic carbapenem, were discovered in India and Pakistan.
Klebsiella cases in Taiwan have shown abnormal toxicity, causing liver abscesses in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). Treatment consists of third generation cephalosporins.
Read more about this topic: Klebsiella Pneumonia
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