Klebsiella spp. cause severe and fatal disease in Mozambican children: antimicrobial resistance profile and molecular characterization.

<bold>Background: </bold>Klebsiella spp. are important pathogens associated with bacteremia among admitted children and is among the leading cause of death in children < 5 years in postmortem studies, supporting a larger role than previously considered in childhood mortality. Herein, we compared the antimicrobial susceptibility, mechanisms of resistance, and the virulence profile of Klebsiella spp. from admitted and postmortem children.<bold>Methods: </bold>Antimicrobial susceptibility and virulence factors of Klebsiella spp. recovered from blood samples collected upon admission to the hospital (n = 88) and postmortem blood (n = 23) from children < 5 years were assessed by disk diffusion and multiplex PCR.<bold>Results: </bold>Klebsiella isolates from postmortem blood were likely to be ceftriaxone resistant (69.6%, 16/23 vs. 48.9%, 43/88, p = 0.045) or extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producers (60.9%, 14/23 vs. 25%, 22/88, p = 0.001) compared to those from admitted children. blaCTX-M-15 was the most frequent ESBL gene: 65.3%, 9/14 in postmortem isolates and 22.7% (5/22) from admitted children. We found higher frequency of genes associated with hypermucoviscosity phenotype and invasin in postmortem isolates than those from admitted children: rmpA (30.4%; 7/23 vs. 9.1%, 8/88, p = 0.011), wzi-K1 (34.7%; 8/23 vs. 8%; 7/88, p = 0.002) and traT (60.8%; 14/23 vs. 10.2%; 9/88, p < 0.0001), respectively. Additionally, serine protease auto-transporters of Enterobacteriaceae were detected from 1.8% (pic) to 12.6% (pet) among all isolates. Klebsiella case fatality rate was 30.7% (23/75).<bold>Conclusion: </bold>Multidrug resistant Klebsiella spp. harboring genes associated with hypermucoviscosity phenotype has emerged in Mozambique causing invasive fatal disease in children; highlighting the urgent need for prompt diagnosis, appropriate treatment and effective preventive measures for infection control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]