Objective: Carbapenem resistance has been reported with increasing frequency among members of Enterobacterales, especially in the last 10 years. Screening and detection of carbapenemase-producing isolates is important in terms of both directing the treatment and preventing its spread. In our study, it was aimed to determine the carbapenemase types and molecular epidemiological relationships of carbapenem resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates, which were isolated sequentially from the samples sent to microbiology laboratory of our hospital.

Method: A total of 32 carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae isolates of the samples sent to microbiology laboratory between July and September 2014, were included in the study. In addition to classical methods, identification of isolates at species level was made with BD Phoenix ID/AST automated system. Carbapenemase types (blaOXA-48, blaNDM, blaIMP, blaKPC, blaVIM and blaGES) of the isolates were investigated by PCR. The clonal relationship between the isolates was assessed with PFGE.

Results: It was noted that 18 isolates were obtained from intensive care units, 9 from inpatient and 5 from outpatient departments. The blaOXA48 gene was found in all isolates while the other carbapenemase genes were not found. It was determined that strains were isolated from 32 patients in our hospital had 12 different PFGE pulsotypes, named as A-L. Among these, the most common ones were B (n=18) and closely related B1 pattern (n=2). The remaining isolates were represented by 11 different types. It was observed that the first isolate with B pulsotype was responsible for the spread of the outbreak from General Intensive Care Unit.

Conclusion: It has been thought that the spread of carbapenem- resistant K. pneumoniae isolates in the hospital was probably occurred through the transfer of isolates from patients with gastrointestinal colonization to other patients through hospital staff. Therefore, the spread of the isolates in hospitals can be limited by detecting colonization with active surveillance programs and by applying contact isolation and effective infection control measures.