Research Article Characterization of Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (Hv-Kp): Correlation of Virulence with Antimicrobial Susceptibility V. Vandhana , K. Vishwas Saralaya , Sevitha Bhat , Shalini Shenoy Mulki , and Archana. K. Bhat Department of Microbiology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Mangalore 575001, Manipal, Karnataka, India Correspondence should be addressed to Sevitha Bhat; sevitha.bhat@manipal.edu Received 7 December 2021; Revised 23 June 2022; Accepted 20 July 2022; Published 18 August 2022 Academic Editor: Faham Khamesipour Copyright © 2022 V. Vandhana et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Introduction. Hypervirulent K. pneumoniae (Hv-Kp) is an emerging variant of classical K. pneumoniae (C-Kp) that exhibits hyper- mucoviscocity and possesses multiple siderophores as virulence factors and is known to cause serious debilitating infections in im- munocompetent individuals. Aim and objective. e aim of this study is to identify C-Kp and Hv-Kp strains and detect their virulence factors and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. Materials and Methods. A total of 129 K. pneumoniae isolates from different clinical samples were used for the identification and differentiation of classical K. pneumoniae (C-Kp) and hypervirulent K. pneumoniae (Hv- Kp) to correlate their virulence with antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and identify their risk factors. Hypermucoviscosity was determined by a string test (>5 mm of string length). e aerobactin gene was detected by PCR. Results and Conclusion. In total, 13.9% (18/129) were Hv-Kp and 86.1% (111/129) were C-Kp. Only 50% (9/18) of the Hv-Kp isolates were hypermucoviscous. C-Kp was significantly more resistant to antimicrobials than Hv-Kp. Among C-Kp, 75.7% were ESBL producers and 76.6% were multidrug resistant while in Hv-Kp, 44.44% were both ESBL producers and multidrug-resistant which is statistically significant (P < 0.01). Diabetes was a common risk factor for C-Kp infections whereas, respiratory disorders like COPD and prolonged ICU stay were the risk factors for Hv-Kp infections. e mortality rate among patients with Hv-Kp infections (87.5%) was significantly high when compared to that of C-Kp infections (35.7%) (P < 0.001). A majority of hypermucoviscous K. pneumoniae isolates were multidrug resistant (65.2%). Although the prevalence of Hv-Kp infections was low, a high percentage of them were multidrug resistant with a significantly high mortality rate. Hence, it is important to efficiently identify Hv-Kp strains from clinical samples and determine their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, so as to provide immediate and effective treatment and to prevent possible outbreaks. 1. Introduction Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic, Gram-negative en- teric bacillus, largely known for causing community acquired and health care associated infections. e two main pathotypes in circulation are the classical K. pneumoniae (C-Kp) and hy- pervirulent K. pneumoniae (Hv-Kp) [1]. C-Kp is one among the most prevalent pathogens essentially causing health care associated infections in patients with un- derlying comorbid conditions, existing barrier breakdown like wound surgeries and in immunocompromised individuals [2]. e ability of this pathotype to acquire multiple elements that confer multidrug resistance including extended spectrum of beta-lactamases (ESBLs) and carbapenemases makes them notorious [2, 3]. Hv-Kp is an emerging variant of C-Kp that exhibits hypermucoviscocity and possesses multiple siderophores as virulence factors and is known to cause serious de- bilitating infections in immunocompetent individuals [4, 5]. e pathotype has the potential to metastasize from the site of infection to eye, lung, and central ner- vous system (CNS). e infections associated with hvKp include bacteremia, pneumonia, and soft tissue infec- tions [6]. Hindawi International Journal of Microbiology Volume 2022, Article ID 4532707, 7 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/4532707