Klebsiella

Klebsiella

The genus klebsiella belongs to the tribe Klebsiellae, a  member of the family Enterobacteriaceae.

The organisms are named after Edwin Klebs, a 19^th century German Microbiologist. Klebsiellae are non-motile, rod –shaped, gram –negative bacteria with a prominent polysaccharide capsule.

Classification of Klebsiella:

Synonym	Pathogen city
K. Pneumonia.	UTI Bacteremia. Hemorrhagic necrotizing consolidation of lung.
K. ozaenea	Ozena in nasal mucosa.
K. rhinoscleromatis.	Rhinoscleroma-destructive granuloma of nose & pharynx.
K. oxytoca	UTI.

Cultural characters of Klebsiella :

1. Aerobic.
2. Optimum temperature: 37°C.
3. Optimum Ph: 7.4.
4. Culture:

ð  On blood agar: Colonies are large& mucoid.

ð  On Mac Conkey’s agar : Colonies are large, mucoid  due to capsular substance.

Laboratory diagnosis of Klebsiella:

Steps:

1. Specimen collection:

ð  Throat swab.

ð  Sputum.

ð  Urine.

2. Microscopic examination:

Finding : Gram negative capsulated rod shape bacilli.

3. Isolation and identification from culture:

1. The materials are streaked on blood agar and Mac-Conkey’ s agar media
2. Incubated at 37°C for over night .
3. Large& mucoid colonies are picked up.
4. Biochemical behavior of Klebsiella is noted.

4. Perform  antibiogram  of the sensitivity tests.