{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T16:24:42Z","timestamp":1791390282134,"version":"4.3.3"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770595200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Purpose<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The present study aimed to investigate the overall clinical and molecular characteristics of hypermucoviscous\n                      <jats:italic>Klebsiella pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      (hmKP) infection in Yantai, China.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      A retrospective study was conducted in Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital from October 2024 to December 2024. As the inclusion criterion, all clinical isolates of\n                      <jats:italic>K. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      were analyzed by a string test, in which an inoculation loop was used to generate sticky strings of &amp;gt;5 mm length from a\n                      <jats:italic>K. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      colony. The isolates showing a positive test result were designated as hmKP. The clinical characteristics of patients with hmKP infection were retrospectively reviewed. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed for all hmKP isolates, and whole-genome sequencing studies were conducted for these isolates to determine their epidemiological characteristics.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      A total of 88 unique hmKP isolates were collected from 485 strains of\n                      <jats:italic>K. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      , accounting for 18.1%. Patients with hmKP infection were distributed across different age groups, clinical departments, and specimen types. Whole-genome sequencing revealed the predominance of K1\/ST23 and K2\/ST65 clones in the hmKP group. Virulence determinants such as\n                      <jats:italic>rmpA<\/jats:italic>\n                      ,\n                      <jats:italic>rmpA2<\/jats:italic>\n                      ,\n                      <jats:italic>iuc<\/jats:italic>\n                      ,\n                      <jats:italic>iro<\/jats:italic>\n                      ,\n                      <jats:italic>peg-344<\/jats:italic>\n                      , and\n                      <jats:italic>clb<\/jats:italic>\n                      were commonly present in the hmKP isolates. All hmKP isolates carried multiple resistance genes; however, the antibiotic resistance phenotype did not fully match with the resistance genes. Additionally, two hypervirulent carbapenem-resistant\n                      <jats:italic>Klebsiella pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      (HCKP) strains were detected in this study.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>HmKP infection is prevalent in Yantai, China, with dominant K1\/ST23 and K2\/ST65 clones carrying prevalent virulence genes. Vigilance is required to prevent the spread of HCKP in clinical practice.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2026.1732291","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T07:41:20Z","timestamp":1770622880000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Epidemiological features of hypermucoviscous Klebsiella pneumoniae infection in a coastal city of China: clinical and molecular perspectives"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Fengzhen","family":"Yang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital","place":["Yantai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lingyan","family":"Hou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laizhou People\u2019s Hospital","place":["Yantai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"JinCheng","family":"Rong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital","place":["Yantai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaohui","family":"Chi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital","place":["Yantai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qi","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital","place":["Yantai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maoli","family":"Yi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital","place":["Yantai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2024.1436039","article-title":"Insights into the recognition of hypermucoviscous Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates by innate immune lectins of the Siglec and galectin families","volume":"15","author":"Campanero-Rhodes","year":"2024","journal-title":"Front. 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