Prevalence of AmpC ß-lactamase producing carbapenem resistant clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae among different hospitals in Hilla City.

This study was performed to detect the presence of blaAmpC among carbapenem resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates.A total of 117 clinical isolates of K. pneumoniae were collected from 801 clinical sample from different hospitals in Hilla City,during the period from April to August 2011.High prevalence of K. pneumoniae isolates were detected in 38 (32.5%)of stool samples, followed by sputum 19(16,2%),All isolates were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion methods .High resistance rate was recorded for Carbencillin (98%),followed by Amox-clavulanic acid (95%).Carbapenem resistance was reported in 17 of K. pneumoniae isolates.These were screened for cefoxitin resistance.Results revealed that all these isolates were found to be cefoxitin resistant, among 17 cefoxitin resistant K. pneumoniae isolates,AmpC ß-lactamases production were phenotypically detected in 2(11.8%),3(17.6%) by AmpC disk and MTDT respectively.None of the isolates were positive for inducible AmpC ß-lactamase. AmpC ß-lactamases were dectectable in 13(76.4%) of isolates by PCR method