Prevalence of Class-1 Integron Genes among Multi-Drug Resistance of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli from Pregnant Women

Abstract

The first aim of this study was determination of the prevalence of urinary tract infections (UTI) among pregnant women in Basra- city. They were diagnosed by VITEK-2 System. Escherichia coli was the major pathogen (52.5%) causing UTI, followed by less percentages pathogens throughKlebsiella pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus epidermidis, proteus mirabilis and Enterobacterspp. The second aim was investigation the frequency of integron genes intI-1, intI- 2 and intI-3 of E. coli strain and their association with antibiotic resistance used in this study. A total 42(52.5%) E. coli isolates from urine samples were tested againt to 10 different antibiotics and that most strains (90.4%) were as Multi- Drug Resistances at significant differences (p˂ 0.05). Among 42 isolates of MDR- E. coli , 31(74%) had the integron genes. The most common of strains had integron genes class-1 (intI-1) at percentage 25(60%), wherease integron genes class-2 (intI-2) and class-3 (intI-3) at percentages 6(14%) and (0%) respectively. Therefore, preventive strategies are necessary to restrict further dissemination of resistant strains.