Prevalence of Multidrug-Resistant Urinary Tract Infections and Their Antibiotic Susceptibility Patterns in Tertiary Care Hospitals

Abstract

UTIs are some of the most frequent cases of bacterial infections that are experienced in the community and in hospitals. The rising occurrence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens makes the process of treatment more complicated and contributes to morbidity. To establish the prevalence, bacterial profile and antimicrobial resistance patterns of the pathogens responsible of urinary tract infection in the tertiary care hospitals. The study was a crosssectional one conducted during six months (January to June 2024) and on 500 patients diagnosed with UTIs clinically. Middle urines were collected and cultured. Standard biochemical tests were used to identify bacterial isolates and antibiotic susceptibility testing was done using KirbyBauer disk diffusion method according to CLSI 2024 guidelines. Among 500 samples, 310 (62) of them had a significant bacteria growth. The most common isolate was Escherichia coli (48), then Klebsiella pneumoniae (22), Enterococcus spp. (15), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (8) and Proteus mirabilis (7). Forty six percent of the isolates were detected with MDR, mostly Gram-negative bacteria. The resistance was high against the Ceftriaxone (72%), Ciprofloxacin (64%), and Ampicillin (80%), but Nitrofurantoin (88%), and Imipenem (90%) were effective. The analysis demonstrates that MDR urinary pathogens are present at a very elevated rate, and the regular monitoring of antimicrobials usage and the reasonable use of antibiotics are necessary to avoid the further development of resistance.