Antibiogram, ESBL production and carbapenemase detection of Klebsiella spp. in hospital-acquired infection

The type of ESBL enzyme produced and the site and severity of infection are important considerations in determining antimicrobial therapy. Therefore, active surveillance for ESBL-producing organisms is critical to describe fully the local epidemiology of a given institution and/or referring centres; currently, the carbapenems, that is, imipenem and meropenem, are the only class of antimicrobials that have consistently been effective against ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae.