Uropathogenic Escherichia coli virulence characteristics and antimicrobial resistance amongst pediatric urinary tract infections

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) harbors virulence factors responsible for bacterial adhesion and invasion. In addition, the bacterium is accountable for the occurrence of pediatric urinary tract infections globally and is becoming problematic due to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. The current research investigated UPEC prevalence, virulence characteristics, and antimicrobial resistance in pediatric urinary tract infection (UTI). 200 urine specimens were taken from hospitalized pediatric patients who suffered from UTIs. E. coli was recovered from urine specimens using the microbial culture. Disc diffusion method was used to assess antimicrobial resistance and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to assess the virulence factors distribution amongst the UPEC bacteria. Seventy-five out of 250 (30.00%) urine samples were positive for the UPEC bacteria. The UPEC prevalence amongst pediatric patients was 25.83% and 33.84%, respectively. UPEC bacteria harbored the maximum resistance toward gentamicin (45.33%), ampicillin (44.00%), and ciprofloxacin (40.00%). Cytotoxic necrotizing factor 1 (Cnf1) (53.33%) and pyelonephritis-associated pil (pap) (42.66%) were the most frequently identified virulence factors amongst the UPEC bacteria. The high prevalence of UPEC isolates harboring antimicrobial resistance and virulence factors suggest that diseases caused by them need more expansive healthcare monitoring with essential demand for novel antimicrobials.