Klebsiella species in the bowel

Question

How can I find out why Klebsiella species have multiplied so massively and unhealthily in my bowel? Mutaflor® helps, however I fear that after finishing the treatment without getting rid of the cause everythings starts again.

Answer

Dear questioner,
Klebsiella germs belong to the group of Enterobacteria, that are - including Escherichia coli - typical inhabitants of the bowel from humans and animals. Klebsiella germs are also typical humid germs amd can very well survive in the environment. The finding of Klebsiella germs in the stool is therefore generally a normal finding and should not worry you.
Of course, especially under treament with antibiotics, the normal composition of the stool flora and thus the digestion respectively the "gastro-intestinal wellbeing" can be impaired. As a consequence, shifts of germs in the stool flora can occur and ceratin germs can be especially dominant. This is especially a problem in CF as in general repeated (inevitable) antibiotic courses are conducted. The importance of a balanced stool flora for digestion, defense of bowel pathogens and the wellbeing is actually intensively researched. The effect of so-called probiotic drugs like Mutaflor® or Lactobacillus is overall still controversial. In case of special illnesses (not CF!) today the "stool transplantation" is discussed and partly even realized. In your case, the aim cannot be to get your stool free of Klebsiella germs, but only normalizing the composition of the stool flora as far as possible, in case to increase your wellbeing (in case it helps, readily via probiotics). Personally, I regard it useless to perform an investigation of the stool for depiction of the stool flora (so-called stool ecograms, e.g. the finding of Klebsiella in the stool) in every-day life respectively as a control in case of intake of probiotics.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Hogardt

30.04.2014