Nat. Microbiol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-019-0492-8

A genomic survey of carbapenemen-susceptible Klebsiella pneumonia in Europe reveals that the majority of resistance to these drugs stems from carbapanemase acquisition, some of which can be attributed to in-hospital acquisition.

Carbapenam-resistant K. pneumonia is the fastest growing antibiotic-resistant bacteria in Europe, and the World Health Organization lists it as a critical priority for which new antibiotics are needed. However, the origin and transmission settings of the epidemic are not well characterized.

The European Survey of Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae (EuSCAPE) analyzed genomic data obtained from greater than 1,700 K. pneumonia samples from patients in 244 hospitals in 32 countries. They find that the resistance largely stems from acquisition of carbapanemase, and that much of the acquisition stems from within-hospital and between-hospital transmission within countries.