Assessing aztreonam synergy with other novel antibiotics against carbapenem : resistant klebsiella pneumoniae

Abstract

Carbapenem – resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae poses a great threat in hospital settings. It is a nosocomial infection that attacks an array of patients. It is very difficult to treat as it is resistant to most antibiotics, due to its ability to produce Beta-lactamases. Therefore, making it very difficult to find a group of antibiotics that can combat this resistance and help in preventing and controlling future infections. Recent studies showed that among the various antibiotics, aztreonam showed promising results, in synergy with other antibiotics, against carbapenem – resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. This raises the question of whether synergy testing with aztreonam, in combination with other antibiotics, can retrieve susceptibility against carbapenem – resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. In the proposed study a number of isolates of carbapenem – resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae of the strain OXA-48-like, will be used to test synergy with aztreonam in combination with meropenem and ceftazidime/avibactam.