2. Characteristics
Etymology
• Genus was named after the German bacteriologist Edwin Klebs
(1834- 1913)
Taxonomy
Kingdo
m
Phylum Class Order Family Genus
Bacteria Proteobacteria Gammaprotebacteri
a
Enterobacteriale
s
Enterobacteriacea
e
Klebsiella
3. Characteristics
Macro Morphology
• form medium sized, dome shaped, white glistening colonies (2-
3 mm in diameter).
Micro Morphology
• nonmotile cylindrical rod shape bacterium (0.3-1.0 x 0.6-6.0
µm), which appear singly, in pairs or in short chains.
5. Epidemiology
Habitat
• Ubiquitous in nature
• naturally found in the intestinal tract, mouth, nose of
humans;
• however, they can be found colonizing on all parts of the
body.
Mode of Transmission
• Person to person spread
• Commonly in healthcare environments
6. Pathogenesis& Spectrumof Diseases
Virulence factor
• Outer membrane composed of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) that
have O antigens. LPS layer has a polysaccharide chain known
as Lipid A, which produces endotoxins;
• capsules;
• resistance to multiple antimicrobial agents.
7. Pathogenesis& Spectrumof Diseases
Spectrum of Disease & Infection
• Nosocomial infections of the respiratory
tract,
• urinary tract,
• blood,
• and several other normally sterile sites.
• Most frequently infect hospitalized
patients.
10. Antimicrobial SusceptibilityTesting
• Extended Spectrum β-Lactamase (ESBL) producing
organism give effective screening methods for their
detection.
• Helps the doctor give proper antibiotics to patients infected with
the multiple antimicrobial resistant Klebsiella oxytoca.
