Evaluation of Quinolone-Resistant Strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae in Clinical Specimens Obtained From Patients Referred to Zahedan Educational Hospitals

Klebsiella pneumoniae is among the most common and significant agents of community and hospital-acquired infections. Plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) was increasingly identified in Enterobacteriaceae family worldwide. Quinolones are broad-spectrum antibiotics the resistant to which has increasingly been reported among many bacterial species including Klebsiella. The current study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of quinolone-resistant strains of K. pneumoniae in Zahedan during 2013 and 2014. In this cross-sectional study, 184 samples of K. pneumoniae were collected. Isolates were screened for quinolone antibiotics resistance using disk diffusion method according to clinical and laboratory standards institute (CLSI) guidelines. Also MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) was used against the ciprofloxacin antibiotic by the dilution method in tubes. Based on the obtained results by the Agar disk diffusion test, 31.5%, 18.4%, 17.3%, 4.3%, 3.2% and 2.1% of the strains were resistant to nalidixic acid, ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, levofloxacin, and getifloxacin respectively. Our results show increased prevalence of quinolone resistance among K. pneumoniae in south-east of Iran. This may stem from their irrational prescription thus it is recommended that their prescription be based on antibiotic sensitivity test results. We also recommend further evaluation using molecular techniques and also preventive measures.