Single unscreened carrier triggered ICU outbreak of a KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae which acquired in vivo resistance to ceftazidime-avibactam, and cefiderocol.

BACKGROUND

Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales are a major cause of healthcare-associated outbreaks in intensive care units (ICUs), where unrecognized carriers can drive silent transmission. We report an ICU outbreak caused by KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae and the within-host emergence of resistance to ceftazidime-avibactam and cefiderocol in the index case.

METHODS

Four ICU patients with five K. pneumoniae isolates identified between July and August 2023 were investigated. Phenotypic, genomic and functional analyses were performed to determine the clonal relatedness of the isolates and elucidate the mechanisms underlying resistance evolution.

RESULTS

All isolates belonged to ST512, confirming dissemination of a single high-risk clone. The first isolate recovered from the index patient was susceptible to ceftazidime-avibactam and cefiderocol, but a later isolate obtained during ceftazidime-avibactam therapy acquired resistance to both agents. Genomic analysis revealed a novel KPC variant (KPC-270) carrying a 19-amino-acid duplication. When expressed in Escherichia coli, KPC-270 conferred ceftazidime-avibactam resistance, but it did not fully reproduce the meropenem or cefiderocol phenotype. Efflux inhibition substantially reduced meropenem and cefiderocol MICs in the resistant isolate, and avibactam partially restored cefiderocol activity, supporting multifactorial mechanism.

CONCLUSION

This outbreak illustrates how unrecognized multidrug-resistant carriage in the index patient facilitated the nosocomial dissemination of a high-risk ST512 K. pneumoniae clone, followed by rapid resistance evolution during ceftazidime-avibactam therapy. Resistance was multifactorial, involving the novel KPC-270 variant and efflux activity contributing to ceftazidime-avibactam, meropenem and cefiderocol resistance.