Phenotypic detection of Carbapenamase among Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from clinical samples using modified Hodged test

Carbapenemases are microbial enzymes that confer resistance to virtually all available beta-lactam antibiotics and the most frequent carbapenemases are the Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenamase (KPC). Detection of carbapenemases is a significant infection control strategy as the enzymes are often associated with extensive antimicrobial resistance, therapeutic failures and mortality associated with infectious diseases. A total of 400 clinical samples were collected from different groups of patients in Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, Nigeria and 118 K. pneumoniae were isolated using standard microbiological techniques. The isolates were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility testing by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method, then screened for Carbapenamase production using modified Hodge test. The results indicated that the isolates were resistant to Ampicillin (61.9%), Ceftriaxone (50.8%) and Ceftazidime (50.8%), then Ciprofloxacin (54.2%), but predominantly sensitive to Imipenem (66.9%), Eterpenem (60.2%) and Meropenem (65.3%). It was found that 38 (32.2%) of the isolates phenotypically shows the presence of Carbapenamase, with highest frequency of (40.7%) among patients, mainly adult females with cases of Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) and the least from wound (11.8%).This study revealed that the isolates produced other beta-lactamases than KPC or variants of Carbapenamase that cannot be detected by modified Hodge test, thus shows low resistance to carbapenems. Therefore further studies is needed to genotypically confirm the presence of KPC in these isolates.