Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Proteus mirabilis Isolated from Urinary Tract Infections in Duhok City, Iraq, Using VITEK2 System

Background: Proteus mirabilis is a Gram-negative bacterium, it is renowned for its capacity to swarm across surfaces with strength and create an eye-catching bulls-eye pattern. Proteus mirabilis belongs to the Enterobacteriaceae family, which is regarded as one of the most common causes of urinary tract infections (UTIs). UTI is a very common type of infection in the urinary system which can involve any part of the urinary system and mostly can be treated with an antibiotic. This study aimed to isolate Proteus mirabilis, estimating its incidence in urinary tract infections among symptomatic patients in Duhok City, Iraq, and assessing its antibiotic susceptibility.Materials and Methods: In this study, 250 midstream urine samples were taken from patients at the Private VIN Hospital in Duhok, Iraq over four months (from April to August 2022) using a sterile urine container. Patients ranged from age (4 to 70) and each sample was cultured on MacConkey and blood agar media. The VITEK2 System is used in the detection of the proteus isolates and also their antimicrobial sensitivity.Results: According to the results in this study, 9.6% (24/250) of the samples collected revealed positive results for Proteus mirabilis. Also, the results demonstrated that the most active antibiotics against Proteus mirabilis were meropenem, ertapenem, and piperacillin/tazobactam, while the most resistant antibiotics were nitrofurantoin and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid. In this study, females-were more infected than males.Conclusion: Proteus mirabilis one of the important agent of UTIs, their rate was 9.6%, the most active antibiotics against Proteus mirabilis were meropenem, ertapenem, and piperacillin/tazobactam.