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A scientific assessment and meta-analysis discovered excessive charges of resistance to older and newer antibiotics in strains of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKp), researchers reported final week within the Journal of International Antimicrobial Resistance.

Though Ok pneumoniae has lengthy been acknowledged as an opportunistic pathogen that may trigger a variety of infections in weak, immunocompromised hospital sufferers, hvKp strains have emerged lately as a brand new menace. In distinction to “basic” Ok pneumoniae strains, hvKp may cause extreme infections in wholesome people that rapidly disseminate to varied physique websites. And whereas preliminary hvKp strains have been restricted to Asia and have been hardly ever immune to antibiotics, they’ve unfold globally and bought a number of antibiotic resistance genes.

“The convergence of hypervirulence and antibiotic resistance in these strains presents a formidable problem as conventional therapy choices have change into more and more restricted,” researchers from the Pasteur Institute of Iran wrote.

A ‘burgeoning public well being problem’

Of their meta-analysis of 77 research from 17 nations throughout 4 continents, the researchers discovered excessive charges of resistance in hvKp to older antibiotics, together with ampicillin (95%), ampicillin/sulbactam (45.1%); third-generation cephalosporins, together with cefotaxime (64.2%) and ceftazidime (55.9%); and the carbapenem antibiotics imipenem (44.8%), meropenem (51.4%), and ertapenem (42.6%). Quinolones, comparable to ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin, exhibited resistance of 46.3% and 35.5%, respectively, whereas azithromycin resistance was prevalent at 76.3%. Amongst newer antibiotics, colistin, fosfomycin, and nitrofurantoin resistance charges have been 15.3%, 51.1%, and 39.2%, respectively.

The convergence of hypervirulence and antibiotic resistance in these strains presents a formidable problem as conventional therapy choices have change into more and more restricted.

The meta-analysis additionally discovered a pattern of accelerating resistance to a number of antibiotics over time, important variations in resistance throughout nations and areas, and variabilities in testing strategies and requirements.

The authors say world collaboration, standardized testing protocols, and tailor-made regional interventions will likely be wanted successfully fight the specter of resistance in hvKp strains.

“This examine serves as an pressing name for healthcare professionals, researchers, and policymakers to deal with this burgeoning public well being problem, and considerably contributes to the understanding of antibiotic resistance in hvKp strains, providing beneficial insights for future analysis, medical apply, and the event of public well being insurance policies,” they wrote.