Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from street foods: characterization for extended spectrum β-lactamases production and antibiotics resistance profile

Abstract

In order to assess the risks associated to street foods consumption, this study aimed to characterize (phenotypic and genotypic) Klebsiella pneumoniae strains isolated from street foods firstly for extended spectrum β-lactamases production and secondly for antibiotic resistance. Three types of street foods (Russian salad, vegetable sauce and cooked rice) were investigated for this study. The sellers considered in this study are 'hawker seller', 'semi-fixed seller' and 'fixed seller'. A total of 216 foods samples are collected. After bacterial identification, their sensitivity to antibiotic was determined by the disk diffusion method. The phenotypic and genotypic characterization of K. pneumoniae strains that produce β-lactamase were made respectively by acidimetric and PCR method. This study revealed that about 20% of investigated street foods were contaminated by K. pneumoniae. Those K. pneumoniae strains producing penicillinase carried bla_TEM (65%) and bla_CTX-M (10%) genes while no strains carried bla_SHV. And 20% of the strains tested carried together the bla_TEM and bla_CTX-M. Twenty seven percent of K. pneumoniae strains were resistant to imipenem. The presence of multi-drug resistant strains of K. pneumoniae in street foods shows that this bacteria was not neglected, and should deserve more attention of researchers worked in food safety.