Efflux mediated colistin resistance in diverse clones of Klebsiella pneumoniae from aquatic environment

The peptide drug colistin is commonly used to treat carbapenem resistant gram negative bacterial infections. In the present study, we report efflux mediated colistin resistance in multidrug resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates belonging to ST200 and ST1296, isolated from a fresh water environment. The isolates exhibited intermediate resistance to human serum, possessed Type 1 fimbriae and harbored blaSHV-34 and blaTEM-1 genes. Our results highlight the evolving nature of these clones in the country. These observations emphasize the need for judicious usage of antibiotics to prevent the imminent danger of losing out on currently available therapeutic options.