Long-term colonization of spinal cord injury patients with Klebsiella pneumoniae.

The duration of colonization of the human perineum, bowel, and urethra with Klebsiella pneumoniae was studied in 10 male patients with spinal cord injury while they were undergoing rehabilitation in the hospital. Colonization defined as persistence of klebsiellae of the same serotype occurred on 13 occasions in five of the patients for up to 55 days. Colonization was less marked with Klebsiella than with Pseudomonas spp. The presence of quadriplegia correlated with Klebsiella colonization and also with the presence of positive Klebsiella cultures from the urethra and perineum. Seven episodes of significant bacteriuria occurred with or after the finding of positive cultures from body sites.