ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Antimicrobials, Resistance and Chemotherapy
This article is part of the Research TopicDefending the Last Line: Combatting Carbapenem-Resistant PathogensView all 8 articles
Clinical and Genomic Characterization of Klebsiella pneumoniae in a District Hospital in Chengdu, China
Provisionally accepted
- 1Sichuan University West China Second University Hospital, Chengdu, China
- 2West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- 3Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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Klebsiella pneumoniae is a significant human pathogen in both hospital and community settings; however, limited data exist regarding its prevalence in district-level hospitals. This study aimed to characterize the drug resistance mechanisms, molecular epidemiology, and virulence profiles of K. pneumoniae in a district hospital in Chengdu, China. A total of 114 clinical isolates were collected between May 2023 and May 2024. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing using the broth microdilution method revealed resistance rates of 14.0%-21.1% to third-generation cephalosporins, and 5.3% to carbapenems. Whole-genome sequencing showed that 18.4% (21/114) of the isolates carried ESBL genes, with blaCTX-M-15 (n = 7) being the most common. Six carbapenem-resistant isolates were identified, of which four produced carbapenemases: three harbored blaNDM-5 and one carried blaKPC-2. MLST analysis identified 67 sequence types, with ST23 (n = 9) being the most prevalent. The 21 ESBL-producing isolates were distributed across 15 sequence types, while the six carbapenem-resistant isolates were assigned to four distinct sequence types. Virulence-associated genes were detected at high frequencies, including ybt (39.5%), clb (12.3%), iuc (50.0%), iro (60.5%), rmpA (59.6%), and rmpA2 (36.8%), and were commonly found in ST23 (n=9), ST412 (n=6), ST25 (n=5), ST268 (n=5), and ST375 (n=4). In conclusion, K. pneumoniae isolates from this district hospital showed low resistance rates but a worrying high prevalence of virulence genes. This highlights the urgent need for continuous surveillance and early intervention strategies to prevent the emergence of highly virulent and multidrug-resistant strains in healthcare settings.
Keywords: Klebsiella pneumoniae, resistance mechanisms, Virulence, Epidemiology, Genomic Analysis
Received: 16 Sep 2025; Accepted: 28 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hu, Lu, Sun, Yu, Zhang, Jianping and Li. 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:
Jiang Jianping, jiangjianping@fudan.edu.cn
Juan Li, 7223770@qq.com
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