Abstract

Klebsiella species such as (Klebsiella pneumoniae, klebsiella Oxytoca) and other species, are gram-negative bacteria, belong to the family Enterobacteriaceae, they become opportunistic pathogens under certain conditions, especially in immunocompromised patients or children. A total of 100 ear swab samples from children under 12 years old were cultured on MacConkey agar, Blood agar, and Chromogenic agar to isolate Klebsiella spp. followed using Molecular method to confirm the bacterial identity, by PCR amplification 16S rRNA gene, phylogentic analysis and detection of some virulence gene (blaCTX-M, magA, and mrkA), and susceptibility test. Bacteriological analysis revealed that Klebsiella spp. accounted for 9% of isolates in children (77.7% K. pneumoniae, 11.11% K. variicola, and 11.11% K. oxytoca). They were detected in isolates from children: blaCTX-M 4 (44.4%), magA1 (11.1%), and mrkA (44.4%). Sequencing and Phylogenetic analysis confirmed that the majority of isolates belonged to the genus Klebsiella. (K. pneumoniae, K. variicola and K. oxytoca), Phylogenetic analysis revealed high identity (99–100%) with reference strains deposited in GenBank (ID: PV490260.1 , ID: PV490261.1 , ID: PV490262.1 , ID: PV490263.1 , ID: PV490264.1, ID: PV490265.1 , ID: PV490266.1 , ID: PV490267.1 , ID: PV490268.1). Klebsiella spp. isolates showed complete sensitivity (100%) to Levofloxacin, Co-trimoxazole, Gentamicin, Chloramphenicol, Moderate resistance was observed with Amoxicillin/Clavulanic acid (66.6%), Amikacin (33.3%), Trimethoprim (33.3%), Ciprofloxacin (11.1% intermediate, 88.8% sensitive) and Cefotaxime 5(55.6%). Overall, the isolates demonstrated a high degree of susceptibility to several potent antibiotics, particularly fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, and carbapenems, while showing marked resistance to β-lactams such as Amoxicillin/Clavulanic acid.