By Emily Thielke

 Gram-negative  (gram stains pink/red)  Pink in color  Rod shaped  Non-motile bacteria  Lactose Fermenting  Enterobacteriaceae Family  This means that this bacteria is mostly found in the intestines of animals and humans.  Encapsulated Bacterium  (presence of a polysaccharide layer outside the cell-wall)

 Facultative Anaerobic  meaning that it has a characteristic feature of becoming both aerobic (survive in presence of oxygen) and anaerobic (survive in absence of oxygen) depending upon the situation.  It is found naturally in the soil, water and vegetables.  In humans, it can be found in the skin, pharynx and gastrointestinal tract.

 Klebsiella pneumoniae is one of the most commonly occurring gram- negative bacteria studied worldwide.

 Mostly causes pneumonia in humans  However it can also cause UTIs and abdominal infections  In Fact it is the second pathogen, next to E. coli, that causes UTIs

 Infections are either hospital-acquired or community-acquired.  More commonly known as hospital-acquired pneumonia  Affects persons with low immune system, diabetes patients and people with chronic lung disease. Alcoholics can also suffer from K. pneumoniae infections

 Klebsiella pneumonia causes rapid destruction of tissue within the lungs, and as a result, the symptoms appear quickly.  sudden high fever  dizziness and chills  coughing up of a distinctive sputum from the lungs  thick and tinged with blood  viscous and abundant

 If not treated right away:  can quickly form abscesses  bacteria, from the abscesses, is also able to punch holes in the lining of the lungs large pneumonia consolidation in the right lower lobe

 People with Klebsiella pneumonia can also suffer from collapsed lungs  Klebsiella pneumonia can also spread to the upper respiratory tract. It can cause a foul- smelling discharge to be emitted from the nose.

 The diagnosis of the infection is done in two ways  Gram stain and culture  Conducting a battery of tests to determine biochemical properties is required to identify the species Gram stain of K. pneumoniae

 Diagnosis of klebsiella pneumonia can also be done by the basis of patient’s symptoms, physical examination with further investigations like chest X- ray, blood test and sputum cultures.

 Tx for K. pneumonia is usually done by using antibiotics such as aminoglycosides and bactericidals such as cephalosporins.  However, Tx depends upon the patient’s health condition, medical history and severity of the infectious disease

 The Danish scientist Hans Christian Gram ( ), developed the technique now known as Gram staining in 1884 to discriminate between K. pneumoniae and Streptococcus pneumoniae.  The organisms are named after Edwin Klebs, a 19th century German microbiologist

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