Bacterial etiology of urinary tract infections and their sensitivity patterns towards commonly used antibiotics in port Sudan City, Sudan: a retrospective study

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most prevalent infectious diseases worldwide, exacerbated by rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as a result of overuse and misuse of antibiotics. This study aims to assess local bacterial etiologies and their resistance and sensitivity patterns to commonly used antibiotics in Sudan. This retrospective study utilized secondary data from the Nile Medical Compound in Port Sudan. Total coverage of all data from June/2023 to March/2024 were included, which yielded 328 samples. Most of the samples were from females (64.3%), and significant differences were found in pathogen detection between genders (p = 0.001). 69.8% was positive for a single pathogen, with Escherichia coli (31.3%) being the most common, followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (9.5%), and Staphylococcus aureus (8.8%). Females had higher rates of E.coli, Pseudomonas aureginosa and Enterococci spp. Notably, 23.7% of positive samples were resistant to 4–6 antibiotic classes, with females having significantly higher percentages of antibiotic resistance than males. Gentamicin showed the highest sensitivity (74.1%) among cultures, as two-thirds of E. coli were sensitive to it. Sensitivity patterns also revealed that the majority of Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis had notable sensitivity to gentamicin. Almost all detected pathogens were resistant to 4–6 classes of drugs with Enterococcus faecalis having the highest percentage of resistance and Staphylococcus aureus having the least. Despite some high sensitivity rates, resistance to multiple antibiotic classes remains a concern, underscoring the need for continuous surveillance and localized treatment guidelines. Moreover, our study highlights the significant difference in resistance patterns between males and females, which suggests that more research is needed to elaborate on the reasons.