Klebsiella Pneumoniae

Klebsiella is a gram-negative, rod shaped and non-motile bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. Enterobacteriaceae represents bacteria that normally inhabit the intestines of animals and humans. When they are present outside the gut (alimentary canal between stomach and anus), they cause certain lethal infections in humans. Species of Klebsiella are ubiquitous (present everywhere) and are human-pathogens (disease causing organisms) found in the respiratory, intestinal, and urinogenital tracts. They cause pneumonia (inflammatory illness of the lungs), urinary tract infections (UTI), ankylosing spondylitis (degenerative inflammatory arthritis), septicemia (whole body inflammation) and soft body infections to humans. "Klebsiella" was named after the German pathologist, Edwin Klebs in honor of his work.

Klebsiella Pneumoniae: General Characteristics

Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) is one of the known species of Klebsiella genus. It is one of the most commonly occurring gram-negative bacteria studied worldwide. K. pneumoniae is an encapsulated (presence of a polysaccharide layer outside the cell-wall) bacterium. It is a facultative anaerobic, meaning that it has a characteristic feature of becoming both aerobic (survive in presence of oxygen) and anaerobic (survive in absence of oxygen) depending upon the situation. It can synthesize ATP (adenosine triphosphate) by aerobic respiration, but can also switch on to anaerobic fermentation for deriving energy. It is found naturally in the soil, water and vegetables. Some of the strains of K. pneumoniae are diazotrophs and have an ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen in a more usable form for plants. In humans, it can be found in the skin, pharynx and gastrointestinal tract. However, under certain conditions, it causes serious infections.

Klebsiella Pneumoniae: Infections

Klebsiella pneumoniae, the name itself suggests that it is a strain of Klebsiella that causes pneumonia in humans. It can also cause UTI and abdominal infections. In fact, it is the second pathogen, next to E. coli that causes UTI. It normally affects persons with low immune system such as hospital patients, diabetes patients and people with chronic lung disease. Many a times, alcoholics also suffer from K. pneumoniae infections. Thus, the infections are either hospital-acquired or community-acquired.

It is difficult for K. pneumoniae to infect lungs of healthy persons. However, it produces a highly lethal pneumonia in those people who have been hospitalized, typically after two days of hospitalization and is therefore commonly known as hospital-acquired pneumonia. It causes a serious, rapid-onset illness that can result in destruction of the lungs. The most common symptom of this type of pneumonia is cough with sputum secretion. The patient may also suffer from chills, chest pain, high fever, shortness of breath and flu-like symptoms. In severe cases, it may cause lung destruction and formation of lung abscesses (pockets of pus). Pus may also be present in tissues surrounding the lung known as empyema, which can lead to formation of scar tissue. Mortality rate of this pneumonia is more than regular pneumonia due to the underlying diseases of the affected persons.

Klebsiella Pneumoniae: Infections - Diagnosis and Treatment

Diagnosis of klebsiella pneumonia is done on the basis of patient’s symptoms, physical examination with further investigations like chest X-ray, blood test and sputum cultures.

Klebsiella pneumonia is difficult to treat and repetitive occurrence of the disease is seen, which the patient continues to suffer for a longer duration. Treatment for klebsiella pneumonia is usually done by using antibiotics such as aminoglycosides, bactericidals such as cephalosporins and other prescribed medications. Treatment depends upon the patient’s health condition, medical history and severity of the infectious disease. It is always recommended to take precautions in order to prevent from such infections.