Genomic study substantiates the intensive care unit as a reservoir for carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in a teaching hospital in China

Carbapenem-resistant <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> (CRKP) has recently emerged as a notable public health concern, while the underlying drivers of CRKP transmission among patients across different healthcare facilities have not been fully elucidated. To explore the transmission dynamics of CRKP, 45 isolates were collected from both the intensive care unit (ICU) and non-ICU facilities in a teaching hospital in Guangdong, China, from March 2020 to August 2023. The collection of clinical data and antimicrobial resistance phenotypes was conducted, followed by genomic data analysis for these isolates. The mean age of the patients was 75.2 years, with 18 patients (40.0%) admitted to the ICU. The predominant strain in hospital-acquired CRKP was sequence type 11 (ST11), with k-locus type 64 and serotype O1/O2v1 (KL64:O1/O2v1), accounting for 95.6% (43/45) of the cases. The CRKP ST11 isolates from the ICU exhibited a low single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) distance when compared to isolates from other departments. Genome-wide association studies identified 17 genes strongly associated with SNPs that distinguish CRKP ST11 isolates from those in the ICU and other departments. Temporal transmission analysis revealed that all CRKP isolates from other departments were genetically very close to those from the ICU, with fewer than 16 SNP differences. To further elucidate the transmission routes among departments within the hospital, we reconstructed detailed patient-to-patient transmission pathways using hybrid methods that combine TransPhylo with an SNP-based algorithm. A clear transmission route, along with mutations in potential key genes, was deduced from genomic data coupled with clinical information in this study, providing insights into CRKP transmission dynamics in healthcare settings.