Bacteriological profile of urinary tract infections and antibiotic susceptibility of Escherichia coli in Algeria

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Urinary tract infections are one of the most common bacterial infections worldwide. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains is a serious problem and greatest challenge in public health care. The pur-pose of this study was to determine the prevalence of uropathogenic microorganisms and the antibiotic resistance pattern of Escherichia coli in Algeria. Materials and Methods: Urine samples were collected from 760 outpatients in the hospital of Tizi-Ouzou (Algeria). From the positive cultures, 120 strains of E. coli were isolated and tested for their susceptibility to antibiotics by disk diffusion method on Mueller Hinton agar medium. Results: Among the collected urine specimens, 270 (35.5%) yielded positive cultures for urinary tract infection. Females were more affected with a sex ratio F/M of 1.14. E. coli was the most prevalent isolated bacteria with a rate of 44.44%, fol-lowed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (12.21%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (11.1%) and Proteus mirabilis (5.55%). Isolates of E. coli showed high level of resistance to cephalothin (85.83%), ticarcillin (82.5%), ampicillin (73.3%) and amoxicillin-clavu-lanic acid (58.33%). Imipenem was the most effective antimicrobial agent. Conclusion: These results highlight the inappropriate utilization of antibiotics and suggest the need to improve prescription practices in our country.