The Molecular Characterization of Virulence Determinants and Antibiotic Resistance Patterns in Human Bacterial Uropathogens

Naveed Ahmed; Hira Khalid; Mariam Mushtaq; Sakeenabi Basha; Ali A Rabaan; Mohammed Garout; Muhammad A Halwani; Abbas Al Mutair; Saad Alhumaid; Zainab Al Alawi; Chan Yean Yean

doi:10.3390/antibiotics11040516

The Molecular Characterization of Virulence Determinants and Antibiotic Resistance Patterns in Human Bacterial Uropathogens

Antibiotics (Basel). 2022 Apr 13;11(4):516. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics11040516.

Authors

Naveed Ahmed^{1

2}, Hira Khalid³, Mariam Mushtaq³, Sakeenabi Basha⁴, Ali A Rabaan^{5

6

7}, Mohammed Garout⁸, Muhammad A Halwani⁹, Abbas Al Mutair^{10

11

12}, Saad Alhumaid¹³, Zainab Al Alawi¹⁴, Chan Yean Yean¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan 16150, Malaysia.
² Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Central Punjab, Lahore 54000, Punjab, Pakistan.
³ Department of Medical Education, King Edward Medical University, Lahore 54000, Punjab, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Community Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Dhahran 31311, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh 11533, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Public Health and Nutrition, The University of Haripur, Haripur 22610, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
⁸ Department of Community Medicine and Health Care for Pilgrims, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 21955, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Al Baha University, Al Baha 4781, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁰ Research Center, Almoosa Specialist Hospital, Al-Ahsa 36342, Saudi Arabia.
¹¹ College of Nursing, Princess Norah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11564, Saudi Arabia.
¹² School of Nursing, Wollongong University, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
¹³ Administration of Pharmaceutical Care, Al-Ahsa Health Cluster, Ministry of Health, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁴ Division of Allergy and Immunology, College of Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

The high rates of bacterial infections affect the economy worldwide by contributing to the increase in morbidity and treatment costs. The present cross-sectional study was carried out to evaluate the prevalence of bacterial infection in urinary tract infection (UTI) patients and to evaluate the antimicrobial resistance rate (AMR) in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Lahore, Pakistan. The study was conducted for the period of one year from January 2020 to December 2020. A total of 1899 different clinical samples were collected and examined for bacterial cultures using standard procedures. Samples were inoculated on different culture media to isolate bacterial isolates and for identification and susceptibility testing. A total of 1107/1899 clinical samples were positive for Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), Escherichia coli (E. coli) and other bacterial isolates. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) prevalence was 16.93% from these positive cases. MRSA strains were found to be highly resistant to amikacin, clindamycin, fusidic acid, gentamicin and tobramycin, while highest sensitivity was noted against vancomycin (100%) and linezolid (100%). MRSA and high rates of multidrug resistance (MDR) pose a serious therapeutic burden to critically ill patients. A systematic and concerted effort is essential to rapidly identify high-risk patients and to reduce the burden of AMR.

Keywords: MRSA; UTIs; XDR; antibiotic stewardship; antimicrobial resistance; virulence.