Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyse the reason that five patients associated with bloodstream infections by K. pneumoniae in a surgical ward using Pulse Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) and the repetitive-sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR) employing the DiversiLab system. In July 2010, eight isolates were collected from the same surgical ward of a hospital, and the specimens from sputum, blood and abdominal drainage fluid, respectively. The PFGE patterns after XbaI digestion and rep-PCR profiles produced by the DiversiLab system were determined for eight isolates. The Rep-PCR profiles produced by using the DiversiLab system showed that the eight isolates can be divided into two groups; the K8-02 as a group and the other seven strains is the other group. The eight strains of K. pneumoniae can be divided into two groups (A and B), seven strains were type A which the subtype A1 is the main-type (K8-01, K8-03, K8-04, K8-06, K8-08), and one is type B (K8-02). The PFGE and rep-PCR interpretations were concordant for the eight strains of K. pneumoniae. This data suggest that the DiversiLab system may be a reasonable alternative to PFGE for investigation and control of nosocomial infection outbreaks caused by K. pneumoniae, since it is easy to use, rapid and does not require highly skilled operators (Mazzariol et al., 2012).

Key words: Klebsiella pneumoniae, outbreak, pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), rep-PCR, DiversiLab system.

Abbreviation

ESBLs, Extended spectrum beta-lactamase; CLSI, clinical and laboratory standards institute; PFGE, pulse field gel electrophoresis; rep-PCR, repetitive-sequence-based PCR; K. pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae.