Molecular characteristics of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates obtained from urine samples of patients with urinary tract infection in Lima and Callao, Peru

Introduction: Urinary tract infections (UTI) are the second most frequent disease caused by bacteria, mainly Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Furthermore, the emergence of multidrug-resistant extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL)-producing bacteria is a serious public health issue. Objective: To describe the molecular characteristics of ESBL-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates obtained from urinary samples of Peruvian patients with UTI. Materials and methods: Retrospective, descriptive, cross-sectional study, in which 118 isolates obtained from urine cultures of patients with UTI treated at 2 hospitals located in the province of Lima and 1 in the province of Callao between April and August, 2019, were analyzed. A MicroScan™ automated system and a conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test were used to identify resistance profiles and detect ESBL genes, respectively. Results: All the bacteria isolated in the 3 hospitals were multi-drug resistant (105 E. coli and 13 K. pneumoniae). Coexistence of ESBL genes (blatem, blactx-m, blashv) was observed in 32.20% of the isolates (28.57% of E. coli and 61.53% of K. pneumoniae isolates). Coexistence of 2 and 3 genes was found in 12.71 % and 21.18 % of isolates, respectively. In addition, blatem was the ESBL gene most frequently expressed in the isolates (45.76%). Conclusions: Multiple drug resistance was found in all isolates analyzed. Additionally, coexistence of ESBL genes was observed in almost one third of the isolates, showing that antibiotic resistance is a real problem in public hospitals in the provinces of Lima and Callao.