Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2019 Nov 8;19(1):946.
doi: 10.1186/s12879-019-4498-x.

Clinical characteristics in blood stream infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae, Klebsiella variicola, and Klebsiella quasipneumoniae: a comparative study, Japan, 2014-2017

Kazuo Imai  1   2 , Noriomi Ishibashi  2   3 , Masahiro Kodana  4 , Norihito Tarumoto  5   6 , Jun Sakai  1   2 , Toru Kawamura  4 , Shinichi Takeuchi  4 , Yoshitada Taji  7 , Yasuhiro Ebihara  7 , Kenji Ikebuchi  4 , Takashi Murakami  2   8 , Takuya Maeda  2   8 , Kotaro Mitsutake  2   3 , Shigefumi Maesaki  1   2
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Clinical characteristics in blood stream infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae, Klebsiella variicola, and Klebsiella quasipneumoniae: a comparative study, Japan, 2014-2017

Kazuo Imai et al. BMC Infect Dis. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Background: Klebsiella variicola and K. quasipneumoniae are new species distinguishable from K. pneumoniae but they are often misidentified as K. pneumoniae in clinical settings. Several reports have demonstrated the possibility that the virulence factors and clinical features differ among these three phylogroups. In this study, we aimed to clarify whether there were differences in clinical and bacterial features between the three phylogroups isolated from patients with bloodstream infections (BSIs) in Japan.

Methods: Isolates from all patients with BSIs caused by K. pneumoniae admitted to two hospitals between 2014 and 2017 (n = 119) were included in the study. Bacterial species were identified via sequence analysis, and their virulence factors and serotypes were analyzed via multiplex PCR results. Clinical data were retrieved from medical records.

Results: Of the 119 isolates, 21 (17.7%) were identified as K. variicola and 11 (9.2%) as K. quasipneumoniae; K1 serotype was found in 16 (13.4%), and K2 serotype in 13 (10.9%). Significant differences in the prevalence of rmpA, iutA, ybtS, entB and kfu (p < 0.001), and allS genes (p < 0.05) were found between the three phylogroups. However, there were no significant differences in clinical features, including the 30-day mortality rate, between the three organisms, although K. variicola was more frequently detected in patients over 80 years old compared with other Klebsiella species (p < 0.005), and K. quasipneumoniae more frequently occurred in patients with malignancy (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated the differences in bacterial pathogenicity and clinical features among these three phylogroups. Further epidemiological studies into BSI caused by Klebsiella species are warranted.

Keywords: Blood stream infection; Japan; Klebsiella pneumoniae; Klebsiella quasipneumoniae; Klebsiella variicola.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interests.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. DONNENBERG MICHAEL S. Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 2010. Enterobacteriaceae; pp. 2815–2833.
    1. Lee HC, Chuang YC, Yu WL, Lee NY, Chang CM, Ko NY, Wang LR, Ko WC. Clinical implications of hypermucoviscosity phenotype in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates: association with invasive syndrome in patients with community-acquired bacteraemia. J Intern Med. 2006;259:606–614. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2796.2006.01641.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Shon AS, Bajwa RP, Russo TA. Hypervirulent (hypermucoviscous) Klebsiella pneumoniae: a new and dangerous breed. Virulence. 2013;4:107–118. doi: 10.4161/viru.22718. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Siu LK, Yeh KM, Lin JC, Fung CP, Chang FY. Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess: a new invasive syndrome. Lancet Infect Dis. 2012;12:881–887. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(12)70205-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Yeh KM, Kurup A, Siu LK, Koh YL, Fung CP, Lin JC, Chen TL, Chang FY, Koh TH. Capsular serotype K1 or K2, rather than magA and rmpA, is a major virulence determinant for Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess in Singapore and Taiwan. J Clin Microbiol. 2007;45:466–471. doi: 10.1128/JCM.01150-06. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Supplementary concepts

LinkOut - more resources