What is KPC infection?
Abstract. Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing bacteria are a group of emerging highly drug-resistant Gram-negative bacilli causing infections associated with significant morbidity and mortality.
Is KPC a superbug?
A 43-year-old woman with complications from a lung transplant is transferred from a New York City hospital with a highly resistant superbug known as KPC.
How does KPC cause disease?
Some Klebsiella bacteria have become highly resistant to antibiotics. When bacteria such as Klebsiella pneumoniae produce an enzyme known as a carbapenemase (referred to as KPC-producing organisms), then the class of antibiotics called carbapenems will not work to kill the bacteria and treat the infection.
How contagious is cre?
How are CRE germs spread? CRE are usually spread person to person through contact with infected or colonized people, particularly contact with wounds or stool (poop). This contact can occur via the hands of healthcare workers, or through medical equipment and devices that have not been correctly cleaned.
Why did this little girl Addie get so sick?
Addie Rerecich was only 11 years old when she was hospitalized with MRSA, an infection her doctor said she likely caught by picking at a scab — like so many kids do. While in the hospital, she contracted an untreatable form of the bacteria stenotrophomonas that nearly took her life.
What infections did Addie have?
Doctors ordered a culture of her blood, and found her body was overcome with a Staphylococcus infection, a condition called sepsis. The infection had begun growing as an abscess in her hip muscle, and spread into her blood, eventually causing a devastating bacterial pneumonia in her lungs.
Who is at risk for infection with KPC?
Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing K. pneumoniae is spreading globally and represents a challenge in infection control and treatment. Solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients are especially at risk for infection by multidrug-resistant bacteria, and little is known about infection with KPC-producing organisms in this setting.
How is CRKP resistant to all available antimicrobial agents?
CRKP is resistant to almost all available antimicrobial agents, and infections with CRKP have been associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality, particularly among persons with prolonged hospitalization and those who are critically ill and exposed to invasive devices (e.g., ventilators or central venous catheters).
How many Klebsiella infections are caused by CRKP?
Analysis of 2007 data regarding health-care–associated infections reported to CDC indicated that 8% of all Klebsiella isolates were CRKP, compared with fewer than 1% in 2000 (CDC, unpublished data, 2008).
How to control the spread of CRKP in Puerto Rico?
Experience from the outbreak in Puerto Rico and elsewhere (notably Israel) suggests that early detection through use of targeted surveillance and introduction of strict infection control measures (including reinforcement of hand hygiene and contact precautions) can help control the spread of CRKP (7).
