Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern of Escherichia Coli (E. Coli) Isolated From Patients

Antibiotic resistance among uropathogens is emerging public health problem.Bacteria may be innately resistant or may acquire resistance to antibiotics.Culture and antibiotics susceptibility testing of urine is important tool for diagnosis of infection and monitoring antibiotic resistance pattern of uropathogen.The objective of this study was to assess antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Escherichia coli (E.coli) and to describe MDR pattern of E. coli.This study was conducted in Government Medical College, Anantnag J&K among suspected UTI patients during January to April, 2023.Altogether 420 urine samples were analyzed by semi-quantitative culture method and uropathogens were identified by conventional methods.A total of 109 E. coli were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method as per CLSI (Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute) guidelines.Out of 420 samples, 27.3% gave significant growth while 3.1% and 29.2% samples gave mixed and non-significant growth, respectively.The distribution of UTI is the most common among age group 16-49 years.E. coli was found to be most predominant isolate (54.0%) followed by Cogulase negative Staphylococci (21.3%) and Enterococcus fecalis (7.3%).Nitrofurantoin was found to be the most effective antibiotic followed by ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin while cephalexin was least effective.Out of 109 E. coli isolates, 90.8% were MDR strains.E. coli showed higher rate of resistance towards commonly used oral antibiotics.However, nitrofurantoin still active against E. coli.Thus, nitrofurantoin could be the choice for empirical therapy of UTI.