An outbreak of gentamicin-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in a neonatal ward.

Gentamicin-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (GRKP) was isolated from nineteen patients in the neonatal ward of Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH) in Oman. Thirteen cases were infected and six were colonized. Two infected patients died due to septicaemia, eight cases occurred within SQUH and eleven cases were imported from other hospitals. Sixteen isolates were of the same serotype (K25), three were non typeable. Referred patients from peripheral hospitals were the source of the organism and hand carriage the probable vehicle of transmission. The first strain of gentamicin-sensitive Kleb. pneumoniae was isolated five months after combating the outbreak.