Hypervirulent Klebsiella- From the Hospital to the Community

Klebsiella growing on an agar plate: Source CDC

Well I am finally back from The Winter Course, in Snowmass, Colorado. I managed to successfully give my 3 lectures and to a avoid visiting the orthopedist despite daily runs on the ski slopes.

We have witnessed a trend of bacterial pathogens emerging as disease agents not only in the hospital but also in the community. Examples include community associated MRSA and Clostridium difficile. Most recently, in the last 10-15 years, a new variant of Klebsiella pneumoniae is causing serious, community-acquired infections in young, healthy adults. These bacteria have the potential to become antibiotic-resistant. 

My colleague and former mentor from the University at Buffalo, Thomas Russo, recently published on a new variant of Klebsiella pneumoniae in Plos One. An informative article related to his work in Infection Control Today can be found here.

With the emergence and persistence of drug resistant pathogens, infection prevention is bound to remain both challenging and relevant......a form of job security, of sorts.

Back to the grind.