Molecular characterisation and epidemiological investigation of an outbreak of blaOXA-181 carbapenemase-producing isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae in South Africa.

Background: Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen often associated with nosocomial infections. A suspected outbreak of K. pneumoniae isolates, exhibiting reduced susceptibility to carbapenem antibiotics, was detected during the month of May 2012 among patients admitted to a haematology unit of a tertiary academic hospital in Cape Town, South Africa (SA).