Antibiotic resistance and detection of the sul2 gene in urinary isolates of Escherichia coli in patients from Brazil

INTRODUCTION: The present study aimed to assess the antibiotic resistance profiles and detect the presence of the sul2 gene in sulfamethoxazole-susceptible and resistant isolates of Escherichia coli obtained from outpatients and inpatients with urinary tract infections. METHODOLOGY: The resistance profiles of 739 strains were assessed and the presence of the sul2 gene in 100 isolates was tested. RESULTS: The antibiotics with the highest resistance rates were ampicillin (57.4%) and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (44.7%). The presence of the gene sul2 was detected in 66.7% of outpatient samples and 67.9% of inpatient samples. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that E. coli isolates exhibit high resistance to various classes of antibiotics, highlighting the need for developing strategies to help in prescribing antibiotics.