ISOLATION AND ANTIBIOTIC CHARACTERIZATION OF KLEBSIELLA SPECIES FROM HOSPITAL SOURCES

ABSTRACT

Klebsiella species are Gram-negative bacteria that are common in health-care related infections and the treatment of these infections is getting complicated by the emergence of antibiotic resistance. The aim of this study was to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility profile of Klebsiella species obtained from clinical samples in Benin City. This study involved 30 Klebsiella species isolates from clinical samples. The isolates were recovered using cultural and biochemical techniques. The antimicrobial resistance profile was evaluated using the KirbyBauer disc diffusion method. The resistance profile of the tested Klebsiella species to commonly used antibiotics showed that they demonstrated high resistance to piperacillin (83.3%) and ceftazidime (56.7%). The isolates were significantly sensitive to ciprofloxacin (100%) and kanamycin (93.3%). The resistance profile of the isolates based on type of patient’s care revealed that the Klebsiella species isolates from both in-patients and out-patients were significantly resistant against piperacillin, ceftazidime and chloramphenicol. All the tested isolates from both in-patients and out-patients were totally susceptible to ciprofloxacin. The resistance profile towards all the antibiotics except tetracycline revealed that the isolates from out-patients were more resistant in comparison to the isolates obtained from the in-patients. It was observed that the isolates from blood, ear swabs and wound swabs samples tested were susceptible to both kanamycin and ciprofloxacin. Most of the Klebsiella isolates demonstrated resistance to a wide range of antibiotics and this emphasizes the need to control the spread of antibiotic related infections and development of enhanced treatment measure of those related infections.