The production of extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) and AmpC β-lactamases is the most common explanation of multidrug resistance in clinical isolates of Klebsiella spp. In the present study, a total of 160 isolates of Klebsiella spp. were procured from the DBT-NER project with ethical clearance no. DU/Dib/ECBHR(Human)/2021-22/02). These were collected from various health settings of Assam and identified as drug-resistant. The isolates were screened for antibiotic susceptibility and phenotypic tests were performed on multidrug resistant isolates to confirm ESBL and AmpC β-lactamases production. The distribution pattern of ESBL and AmpC β-lactamase genotype was investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The results showed that among 107 multidrug-resistant (MDR) isolates of Klebsiella spp., 67.28% of isolates were ESBL producers and 56.07% were potential AmpC producers. The PCR results revealed that blaCTX-M was the most prevalent ESBL genotype. Among the ESBL producers, 11.11% of isolates showed co-occurrence with plasmid-mediated AmpC β lactamases genotype which indicated the high prevalence of ESBL and AmpC co-producers in K. pneumoniae and K. oxytoca, suggesting the possibility of serious public health concerns. Therefore, it is crucial to regularly monitor the spread of multidrug resistance among clinical isolates.
Keywords: Co-occurrence; K. pneumoniae; Multidrug resistance; bla CIT; bla CTX−M.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.