Convergence of carbapenem resistance and hypervirulence leads to high mortality in patients with postoperative Klebsiella pneumoniae meningitis.

Abstract Objective To investigate the characteristics of Klebsiella pneumoniae meningitis and impact of convergence of carbapenem-resistance and hypervirulence on mortality. Methods Drug-resistance and virulence-related genes were investigated in 25 K. pneumoniae strains causing meningitis. The clinical data of 25 patients (February 2009 to February 2019) were evaluated. Multilocus sequence typing, serotyping, mobile genetic element, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis were applied to generate the data. GraphPad Prism 8 was used for statistical analysis. Results A mortality rate of 30.0% was found in the patients with K. pneumoniae meningitis. Significant differences were observed between the non-survivor and survivor groups in terms of mechanical ventilation, peripheral deep vein catheter insertion, ICU stay, and GCS and not in sex, age, and meningeal integrity destruction. Multi-drug resistance was found in 21 strains. Different detection rates were observed for each virulence gene, ranging from 8.0% in wzy-K1 to 100.0% in entB. Detection rates of carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae (CRKP), hypervirulent K. pneumoniae (HvKP), and hypervirulent carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae (Hv-CRKP) were 68.0%, 68.0%, and 48.0%, respectively. Totally 16 clusters and 19 clones were identified among the 25 strains. Mortality rates were significantly different between the non-Hv-CRKP (1/11) and Hv-CRKP groups (5/9), but comparable among the carbapenem-susceptible K. pneumoniae (CSKP)/CRKP groups and classical K. pneumoniae (cKP)/HvKP groups. Conclusions : K. pneumoniae meningitis is associated with high mortality. K. pneumoniae-induced meningitis has highly divergent origins. Convergence of carbapenem-resistance and hypervirulence leads to high mortality in patients with K. pneumoniae meningitis, which is of great clinical concern.