Work

Emergence and inter-hospital circulation of capsule K2- and OXA-48-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae ST395 in north-eastern Italy

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: • Unexpected increase of K2 and ST395 K. pneumoniae in Venice Province. • Clonal distance within the ST395 K. pneumoniae population. • Production of OXA-48 carbaoenemases. • Local surveillance based on Next-generation sequencing. Klebsiella pneumoniae ST395 is an international high-risk clone implicated in OXA-48-producing K. pneumoniae (OXA-48 Kp) outbreaks. In Italy K. pneumoniae ST395 was sporadically detected and mainly associated with bla KPC-3 determinant. We aimed to describe increase cases of OXA-48 Kp ST395 in North-Eastern Italy. In the period May-July 2024, a total of 57 OXA-48-Kp have been collected from three different Hospitals and related community within the Venice Province. Species identification, antimicrobial susceptibilities, carbapenemases production and clonal relatedness were ascertained by MALDI-TOF MS, Vitek-2 System, CARBA PLUS (MASTGroup) and PFGE, respectively. Whole-Genome Sequencing (WGS) was carried out through NovaSeq Illumina on seven representative strains. All 57 OXA-48-Kp strains retained susceptibility to aminoglycosides only. Three pulsotypes (A-C) were detected by PFGE. The pulsotype A included 13 sub-types (A-A12): A3 and A9 (n= 8, respectively) were leading patterns, followed by A12 (n=4), A5 (n=3) and A11 (n=2). ST395 and capsule K2 were highlited by WGS. The shared resistome consisted in aminoglycoside ( aac(3)-IIa, aac(6′)-Ib-cr ), chloramphenicol ( catA1, catB4 ), beta-lactams ( bla CTX-M-15) and carbapenems ( bla OXA-48) genes. Single-nucleotide-polymorphism-based phylogeny showed relevant genomic relatedness, though clonal identity was obtained only in two cases. In conclusion, we documented the allarming inter-hospital circulation of OXA-48 Kp ST395 in North-Eastern Italy.

Source: Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance

DOI: 10.1016/j.jgar.2025.11.007

Authors: Vittoria Mattioni Marchetti, Francesca Piscopiello, Assunta Girardi, Stefano Grandesso, Roberta Migliavacca

Institutions: University of Pavia, Policlinico San Matteo Fondazione

Language: English

Topic: Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria

Subfield: Molecular Medicine

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,890