Molecular typing of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from a neonatal intensive care unit

The epidemiological features of 60 multiresistant K. pneumoniae strains isolated from 1991 to 1995 in a neonatal ward are described. Antibiotic. Susceptibility testing and plasmid profile analysis were used as subtyping procedures. Antibiotic susceptibility typing was not informative enough since discrimination among isolates was typically poor. Plasmid profile analysis demonstrated that 58 out of 60 strains harboured one or more plasmid DNA bands, of different molecular weights ranging between 1.8 and 150 Mda. Small plasmids were best visualized after the alkaline lysis procedure, while large plasmids by the Kado and Liu method. A combination of plasmid patterns obtained by the two extraction procedures was used to define the final plasmid profile for each strain. Thirteen different plasmid profiles were identified among the collection of K. pneumoniae isolates from newborn patients of the same intensive care unit. The investigation showed that the strains were not responsible for a single outbreak.