Abstract Background: One of the most common pathogenic organisms invading burn sites and causing severe infections is Pseudomonas aeruginosa . Burn injuries cause the skin barrier to be compromised, making it vulnerable to opportunistic infections. P. aeruginosa possesses various important virulence factors along with a high antibiotic resistance pattern that may contribute to its pathogenesis and limit acceptable treatment alternatives. Objectives: Investigate the distribution of ( toxA, algD, rh1I, pilA , and pilB ) genes in extensively drug-resistant (XDR) P. aeruginosa that are isolated from patients suffering from burn. Materials and Methods: A total of 60 burn swabs were taken from patients in the Specialized Burn Center in Al-Diwaniyah City, Iraq, from December 2021 to April 2022. P. aeruginosa isolates were identified by selective medium Chromagar™ Pseudomonas and API 20E system and confirmed by using the 16SrRNA gene. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed for twelve agents of antibiotics in accordance with the recommendations of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI-2022). To detect the genes under study, the polymerase chain reaction technique was used. Results: A total of 16 isolates of P. aeruginosa from burn swabs were isolated. Antibiotic resistance patterns were found in all isolates; 10/16 (62.5%) isolates were extensively drug-resistant (XDR), whereas 6/16 (37.5%) isolates were multidrug-resistant. The results of the molecular study indicate that 10/10 (100%) of XDR P. aeruginosa isolates harbored the toxA, algD , and rhlI genes, whereas 9/10 (90%) and 8/10 (80%) of these isolates harbored pilA and pilB genes, respectively. Conclusions: XDR P. aeruginosa is one of the major active bacteria in burn patients. The high prevalence of virulence genes among XDR P. aeruginosa isolates plays an important role in P. aeruginosa pathogenesis in burn infection. As a result, new strategies such as vaccines, anti-virulence compounds, and antibody-drug conjugate are recommended measures to avoid the spread of drug-resistant P. aeruginosa in Al-Diwaniyah city hospitals.
Ali et al. (Thu,) studied this question.