Klebsiella Oxytoca

[Valsha]

Hi all. My husband, who has bronchiectasis with some asthma and emphysema, is struggling with an infection at the moment and has just cultured Klebsiella Oxytoca. Has anyone else had this and how did you deal with it?

[Hidden]

Not dealt with this one ourselves, but having had a little read, it’s very similar in profile to Klebsiella pneumoniae, which quite commonly causes respiratory infections in respiratory diseases including CF and NCF bronchiectaisis. It’s so similar, that for a long time they didn’t even realise it was a different species. It started emerging as a pathogen of note about 5 or 6 years ago, particularly in hospital acquired infections, and can quite often be found as a source of infection in intensive care. More naturally, this is a gut bacteria, commonly found in the intestines, nose and throat, but also routinely found colonising the skin of many individuals. There are varying degrees of antibiotic resistance depending on the individual bacteria, but generally speaking, they tend to be pan-resistant to penicillins. Oral options that can be effective include ciprofloxacin and azithromycin. There are quite a few IV drugs that work against it, including colomycin which, as I understand it, is very commonly used in all respiratory conditions where/when IVs are required. Your husband’s doctors will look at the sensitivities of the positive culture and decide on the appropriate antibiotic to try from there. It may also depend on how ill it’s making him as to which route they pursue, but from what I’ve read, this is definitely a bug that should be treated.

Hope that helps a little bit and someone else can come along with a more personal experience soon.

[Valsha in reply to Hidden]

Thanks very much for the reply. They have given him Cefuroxime. He is also taking Azithromycin and Doxycycline.

[Valsha in reply to Valsha]

Just read what you are dealing with and I am so grateful you took the time to respond. I hope things are going better for you both.

[Hidden in reply to Valsha]

It’s good for me mentally to feel useful, and there aren’t many things I have a ‘knack’ for, but medical research? The one thing I never wanted to be good at but am without really trying 🤦‍♂️😂

After I replied I realised that they probably wouldn’t give colomycin even if they opted for IVs, as that’s the main drug for pseudomonas in lot of lung diseases. Cefuroxime is a good antibiotic and right up there in the list of decent options for k.oxytoca, so hopefully that’ll see him feeling a bit better fairly soon.