Analysis of antibiotic susceptibility of klebsiella pneumoniae strains isolated from different clinical specimens in Enugu state

Between June 2008- May 2009 we analyzed the antibiotic susceptibility profile of one hundred and fifty (150) K. pneumoniae strains isolated from different clinical samples (urine= 72, high vaginal swab (HVS)=12, sputum=50 and wound swab= 16) from patients visiting University of Nigeria teaching hospital (UNTH) Enugu. All samples were analyzed and organisms isolated using standard Microbiology techniques, antibiotic susceptibility testing was carried out as described in the manual of antibiotic susceptibility testing. Clonal relatedness of resistance strains of K. pneumoniae from different samples was determined by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Antibiotic susceptibility studies revealed that Klebsiella pneumoniae strains from wound samples were the most susceptible strains followed by HVS, sputum and urine. The overall susceptibility proflie are as follows; imipenem (100%), amikacin (100%), cefoxitin (99.4%), aztreonam (98%), ceftazidime (98%), cefotaxime (96.7%), amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (96%), ciprofloxacin (96%), tobramycin (93.3%), kanamycin (90%), cefuroxime (86.7%), gentamicin (76%), sulphamethoxazole/trimethoprim (22%), chloramphenicol (15.4%) and ampicillin (5%). RAPD analysis to determine the clonal relatedness of resistance strains grouped them into two clusters (A and B) based on band patterns. All strains resistant to ampicillin and chloramphenicol showed 100% similarity in band patterns (clonal group A) while strains resistant to sulphamethoxazole/trimethoprim showed different band patterns (clonal group B). Our findings revealed high resistant ampicillin, chloramphenicol and sulphamethoxazole/trimethroprim Klebsiella pneumoniae strains from different clinical strains belonging to two clusters. These resistant strains may have some public health implications as their spreading is not from single source.