THIS superbug makes Hospitals MORE RISKY than farms

A study done by the University of Bath revealed that the best way to control infection for Klebsiella bacteria remains stringent hospital hygiene and that there is less chance that outbreaks may be caused by contact with animals or the environment than previously feared, at least in a high-resource country like Italy
The Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath conducted a research on the transmission of Klebsiella bacteria between people and the environment. While the bugs are present in livestock, pets, and the general environment, an international team of scientists investigating the spread of a deadly drug-resistant Klebsiella bacteria has discovered these bacteria rarely reach humans through environment. 
In the intestines, Klebsiella, a family of bacterial species live harmlessly. However, if they spread to other parts of the body, they can be quite harmful. This deadly drug-resistant Klebsiella superbug rivals MRSA, an another type of bacterial infection. The most well-known species in this family is Klebsiella pneumoniae. This particular bacteria has the potential to cause pneumonia, infections in the bloodstream, meningitis and urinary tract infections. 
Led by Professor Ed Feil from the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath, the researchers investigated the prevalence of this Klebsiella. This bacteria is highly antibiotic resistance. As per the University, some strains of this bacteria are even resistant to carbapenems, an antibiotic that is only used after all other antibiotic treatments fail. Increasingly, these Klebsiella bacteria is becoming a health issue in the United Kingdom. The WHO has identified this bacteria as a pathogen that poses a serious threat to patient safety.
Up until now it was not clear whether the bacteria is able to pass through between clinical and non-clinical environments that is between hospitals and farms. In the study the researchers team collected 6,548 samples over a 15 month period from different locations in and around the Italian city of Pavia. Pavia is the place where this pathogen is a major issue in hospitals. The researchers analysed the samples using whole genome sequencing techniques. It was done to detect and identify any Klebsiella bacteria present in the samples.
For this, the team took swab samples of the patients in hospitals. They also took swab samples of healthy ‘carriers’ in the community and took samples from farms, puddles, domestic animals and even house flies and other insects to detect where the bacteria was present. They discovered 3,482 isolates, including 15 distinct Klebsiella species, with K. pneumoniae present in 50% of the positive samples.
The researchers discovered that there was very little overlap between the bacteria found in hospitals and those found in the environment. Professor Ed Feil, who led the study, said Klebsiella infections are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, so whereas one used to be able to treat most urinary tract infections easily, now it is more common that patients are getting infections that keep coming back and causing problems.
“We found it was present everywhere, but were surprised that the strains found in hospital were different to those found in the environment, indicating there’s very little transfer between the two habitats: humans nearly always catch this from other humans,” he said. 
“This confirms the best way to control infection for these bacteria remains stringent hospital hygiene, and that there is less chance that outbreaks may be caused by contact with animals or the environment than previously feared, at least in a high-resource country like Italy.”
Dr Harry Thorpe, from the University of Oslo (Norway) and first author of the paper, said the fear was that farmers might get these bacteria from their livestock or soil and that we could get infected by contaminated salad or get sick if we swim in lakes that are infected.
However, he said the research “did not give any evidence of this, however, we did find resistant klebsiella in pets, such as cats and dogs. Vets and owners should be aware of this, as these animals could pose a risk for spreading the bacteria.”  
 
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