First characterization of K. pneumoniae ST11 clinical isolates harboring blaKPC-3 in Latin America.

Antimicrobial resistance due to carbapenemase production in Enterobacteriaceae clinical isolates is a global threat. Klebsiellapneumoniae harboring the blaKPC gene is one of the major concerns in hospital settings in Latin America. The aim of this study was to characterize the antibiotic resistance mechanisms and to typify four carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae clinical isolates from the city of Manizales, Colombia. We identified blaKPC-3 in all four isolates by polymerase chain reaction and subsequent sequencing. The plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes qnrB19-like and aac(6')Ib-cr; fosfomycin resistance gene fosA and an insertion sequence IS5-like in mgrB (colistin resistance) were also detected. Sequence types ST11 with capsular type wzi75, and ST258 with wzi154, were characterized. The blaKPC-3 gene was mobilized in a 100-kb IncFIB conjugative plasmid with vagCD toxin-antitoxin system. This work reports multiple resistance genes in blaKPC-producing K. pneumoniae and the first occurrence of ST11 clinical isolates harboring blaKPC-3 in Latin America.