MONDAY, Oct. 25 (HealthDay News) -- The incidence of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC) is on the rise in a major metropolitan city, according to the results of a survey presented at the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, held from Oct. 21 to 24 in Vancouver, Canada.
Shaun R. Nelson, of the Cook County Department of Public Health in Oak Park, Ill., and colleagues administered two electronic surveys in March 2009 and February 2010 to Chicago-area health facilities.
In 2009, 26 of 54 health facilities reported identification of KPC-producing bacteria, and 37 of 57 facilities reported identification of the bacteria in 2010. The investigators also found that the mean number of KPC-positive patients at each facility increased from 3.8 to 10.2. The proportion of KPC-positive patients transferred from a long-term care facility or long-term acute care hospital was 81 percent in 2009 and 75 percent in 2010, with the proportion of KPC-positive patients who were in an intensive care unit during hospitalization increasing from 23 percent in 2009 to 40 percent in 2010.
"KPC-producing bacteria are prevalent and increasing in the Chicago metropolitan region," the authors write. "The rise may be influenced in part by increased awareness, new screening protocols and enhanced laboratory methods for detection. Residents of long-term care may be a major reservoir and source of KPCs. Further studies are needed to determine risk factors for infection/colonization and to develop effective measures to prevent spread."
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