Brief communication: detection of clinical Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from China containing transferable quinolone resistance determinants exhibiting resistance to both aminoglycoside and β-lactams.

Though aminoglycosides are routinely used clinically as antimicrobial agents for the treatment of severe infections due to Klebsiella pneumoniae, resistance to the same is an increasing problem. One such resistance mechanism is the production of 16S rRNA methylases. The objective of the current study was to investigate the prevalence and molecular epidemology of 16S rRNA methylase genes among 43 K. pneumoniae isolates (each of which had at least one PQMR gene and ciprofloxacin minimum inhibitory concentration greater than 0.25) recovered from nine tertiary hospitals in China. Our results suggest great genetic variation in terms of 16S rRNA methylase gene of K. pneumoniae hosts containing at least one PQMR gene. This further reinforces the clinical and systemic urgency required to characterize and block their transmission routes.