Prevalence of urinary tract infections caused by Escherichia coli andinvestigation of antibiotic resistance pattern in infants and children ofSavojbolagh city

Introduction: Urinary tract infection (UTI) arising from Escherichia coli is one of the most importantinfectious diseases in children that causes hospitalization. The aim of this study is to determine theprevalence and antibiotic sensitivity pattern of E. coli bacteria isolated from infants and children infectedwith UTI.methods: In this descriptive-cross-sectional study, ۴۷۳ urine samples were collected from infants andchildren in a clinical diagnostic laboratory in Savojbolagh County over a period of ۶ months. The urinesample of each patient was cultured on Blood Agar and Eosin methylene blue (EMB) media. For theantibiotic sensitivity test, the disc diffusion agar method was used. For this purpose, bacteria werecultured on Mueller Hinton Agar and analyzed according to the ۲۰۲۱CLSI guideline.Results: The total number of studied urine samples was ۴۷۳. Among these, ۴۶ samples (۹.۷۲%) wereconsidered positive, of which ۳۹ (۸۴.۷۸%) were female and ۷ (۱۵.۲۲%) were male. E. coli was the causeof most UTIs in the studied group with a rate of ۷۳.۹۱%. Furthermore, ۲۹% of E. coli infections occurredin the age group ۴ - ۶ years, which is known as the high-risk group. The antibiotic sensitivity testdetermined that Nitrofurantoin with ۶۷.۳۹% had the highest sensitivity followed by Gentamicin andTobramycin (۸۵.۳۰% each). However, the highest rate of resistance was seen for cefixime with ۵۲.۹۴%.Conclusion: A severe outbreak of UTI can cause hospitalization and death in children and infants.Therefore, timely identification of the microorganism and determination of their sensitivity/resistancepattern of them will play an important role in better treatment of infections

Keywords:

Antibiotic sensitivity , Children , Escherichia coli , Savojbolagh , Urinary tract infection