Recommended test panel for differentiation of Klebsiella species on the basis of a trilateral interlaboratory evaluation of 18 biochemical tests.

Klebsiella pneumoniae and Klebsiella oxytoca are the two most frequently encountered Klebsiella species giving rise to infections in humans, but other Klebsiella species can also be found in clinical specimens: Klebsiella ozaenae, Klebsiella rhinoscleromatis, Klebsiella terrigena, Klebsiella planticola, Klebsiella ornithinolytica, and Enterobacter aerogenes (Klebsiella mobilis). However, many of these species are indistinguishable by the conventional methods employed routinely in the clinical microbiological laboratory. Several investigators have suggested various additional tests, but as yet there is no standardized test panel for identifying all Klebsiella species and subspecies.

Klebsiella pneumoniae lipopolysaccharide O typing: revision of prototype strains and O-group distribution among clinical isolates from different sources and countries.

We have previously described an inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method for the O typing of O1 lipopolysaccharide from Klebsiella pneumoniae which overcomes the technical problems and limitations of the classical O-typing method. In this study, we have extended the method to all of the currently recognized O types. The method was validated by studying the prototype strains that have defined the O groups by the classical tube agglutinatination O-typing method.