Prevalence of Drug Resistance and some Pathogenic Factors in Uuropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) Strains Isolated from Patients with Urinary Tract Infection

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli is one of the most important causes of urinary tract infections. These strains possess various virulence factors, including adhesins, toxins, and iron acquisition systems. Virulence genes are situated on mobile genetic elements or in specific regions of the chromosome known as pathogenicity islands. In this study, 375 clinical samples from male and female patients suspected of having urinary tract infections were collected in the hospitals of Dhi Qar, Iraq, during the period from June 1, 2019, to November 1, 2019. Following the collection of 100 samples, bacterial isolation, DNA extraction, and antibiotic sensitivity tests were conducted using the disc diffusion method with the selected antibiotics. The presence of papC, aer, fimH, hly, cnf-1, and afa class genes was investigated using multiplex PCR. The results indicated that the highest frequency among the genes was associated with the fim gene (98%). The aer, papC, cnf-1, hly, and afa genes were also detected, with frequencies of 52%, 30%, 18%, 13%, and 11%, respectively. Additionally, the highest resistance and sensitivity among UPEC isolates were observed for amoxicillin (82.37%) and amikacin (92.35%) antibiotics, respectively.