REVIEW article

Front. Microbiol.

Sec. Antimicrobials, Resistance and Chemotherapy

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1604763

Exploring Current Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae Infections: Insights into Pathogenesis, Drug Resistance and Vaccine Prospects

Provisionally accepted
Qingjing WangQingjing Wang1,2*Haojie YuHaojie Yu3Xueer PanXueer Pan2Weichang HuangWeichang Huang2Jonathan LalsiamtharaJonathan Lalsiamthara4Saif UllahSaif Ullah5Yongchang XuYongchang Xu6Anwei LuAnwei Lu2*
  • 1Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou, China
  • 2Key Laboratory of Pollution Exposure and Health Intervention of Zhejiang Province, Shulan International Medical College, Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 3Stomatology Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
  • 4Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, School of Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, United States
  • 5Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
  • 6Hangzhou Key Laboratory of Inflammation and Immunoregulation, Department of Basic Medical Science, School of Medicine, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China

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Klebsiella pneumoniae is a significant pathogenic bacterium responsible for a range of infections. The escalating prominence of K. pneumoniae in hospital-acquired infections is a deeply alarming trend that demands immediate attention and rigorous intervention. This article provides an up-to-date review of K. pneumoniae's virulence factors, pathogenesis, and the mechanism driving drug resistance. It also explores the potential for safe and effective vaccine developments, vital for preventing and controlling these diseases. Furthermore, we summarize the epidemiological characteristics of classical and hypervirulent K. pneumoniae infections, providing an overview of drug-resistance K. pneumoniae emergence, transmission, and prevalence.

Keywords: Klebsiella pneumoniae, Drug Resistance, Virulence, Pathogenesis, Vaccine, Epidemiology

Received: 04 Apr 2025; Accepted: 28 Apr 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Yu, Pan, Huang, Lalsiamthara, Ullah, Xu and Lu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Qingjing Wang, Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou, China
Anwei Lu, Key Laboratory of Pollution Exposure and Health Intervention of Zhejiang Province, Shulan International Medical College, Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou, 310015, Jiangsu Province, China

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material