Klebsiella pneumonia: what you need to know about the deadly superbug

An outbreak of the Klebsiella pneumonia superbug that killed six newborns at a government hospital in Johannesburg has forced medics to close the facility’s neonatal and maternity wards.

The Thelle Mogoerane hospital in the eastern Johannesburg township of Vosloorus has been in the grip of the antibiotic-resistant bacteria since July 11.

“We can no longer admit babies here,” said Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi in a media briefing on Sunday.

The affected patients are being transferred to another government hospital as well as the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital, which opened in Johannesburg 18 months ago, he added.

The health minister said overcrowding undermined the facility’s infection control measures.

He said neonatal wards in Gauteng province, which includes the financial hub Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria, were at 132 percent capacity on average.

The province has huge numbers of patients from neighbouring countries including Zimbabwe who travel to South Africa in search of better quality care.

Causes and symptoms of Klebsiella pneumonia

Klebsiella is a very common bacteria that is deemed to be harmless. However, once the Klebsiella pneumonia attaches itself to other parts of your body, it can be deadly.

At this point, it can withstand the potency of antibiotic treatment. People with strong immune systems don’t usually get infected. That is why newborns stand to be at the highest risk of falling prey to the bacteria.

Causes

It’s a bacterial infection. Thus, you won’t catch it in the air. Neither will it be transmitted through foreign blood contact.

However, the bacteria travels from one body to the other through direct contact. The most common place one could inherit the bacteria would be at a hospital.

According to WebMD, these are the devices that the bacteria usually latches itself onto:

• IV catheters, tubes that go into a vein to give medicines
• Endotracheal tubes and ventilators, which help you breathe
• Urinary catheters, which drain urine away

Symptoms

There are varying telltale signs of a person who has contracted the bacterial infection. It all depends on where it enters.

If the bacteria gives the person pneumonia, these are the common symptoms to look out for:

• Fever
• Cough
• Chest pain
• Trouble breathing
• More mucus, which may be thick and bloody