Molecular typing of multidrug resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae recovered from Iraqi burned patients

Klebsiella pneumoniae causes lethal nosocomial infections, mostly affecting patients with severe burns. More than 80% of its isolates have shown resistance to routinely used antibiotics in parallel with increased infection rates. The study aimed to determine the molecular typing and genetic relatedness of K. pneumoniae. Therefore, 20 multidrug resistant (MDR) K. pneumoniae already isolated from infected burned wounds in two major hospitals of Al-Kut city east Iraq were subjected to genotyping analysis. The random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique was used along with three oligonucleotide primers (P13, OPX-04, and OPY-01). The amplicons’ patterns of the electrophoresis-gel were analyzed by the GelJ software. Results revealed various patterns of DNA bands. A genetic similarity was seen within isolates from some locations. This genetic relatedness was captured by dendrogram analysis of the generated RAPD profiles. However, a genetic diversity among K. pneumoniae clinical isolates was also detected suggesting their different origins as well as ongoing changes of the bacterial genome. Furthermore, this could propose the circulation of many strains simultaneously within the hospitals. Therefore, it is important to consider this genetic heterogeneity when developing control measures for nosocomial K. pneumoniae infections. In conclusion, the current study highlights the dissemination of various MDR K. pneumoniae strains in the burn wards of two major hospitals in Al-Kut city, Iraq. Similar studies need to be performed in other Iraqi hospitals to establish a data base used in infection control systems, to predict, and manage the spread/outbreaks correlated with certain genotypes of resistant strains.