Epidemiology of the first outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in Saudi Arabia

Results During March 2010, a cluster of 6 patients with CRKP was detected. Patients with CRKP were placed under strict contact isolation. Admission and periodic active surveillance cultures showed a downward trend of CRKP clinical cases over the following months to zeros in July and August. All patients had prolonged hospital stay before CRKP detection and the majority had recent history of carbapenem use (75%), colonization/infection with other MDROs (75%), surgical procedures (80%), indwelling devices (83%), and mechanical ventilation (75%). About 33% of patients with CRKP had clinical infection and 58% died during the current hospitalization. PFGE results identified a dominant clone during the outbreak, Figure 1.