ST218 Klebsiella Pneumoniae Became a High-Risk Clone for Multidrug Resistance and Hypervirulence

The occurrence of multidrug-resistant and hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (MDR-hvKp) worldwide poses a great challenge for public health. Few studies have focused on ST218 MDR-hvKp. Retrospective genomic surveillance was conducted at the Peking University Third Hospital from 2017 and clinical information was obtained. To understand genomic and microbiological characteristics, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, plasmid conjugation and stability, biofilm formation, serum killing, growth curves and whole-genome sequencing were performed. We also assessed the clinical and microbiological characteristics of ST218 compared with ST23. A total of eleven ST218 Kp isolates were included. The most common infection type was lower respiratory tract infection (72.7