Prevalence of Colistin Pan Resistance among Multidrug-Resistant and Extensively Drug-Resistant Escherichia Coli O157:H7

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance is an important problem threatening human health. With the appearance of colistin-resistant bacteria, the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are declaring a global emergency and an alarming disaster that goes back to the time before antibiotics. The usage of colistin rises as a result of the global growth of Enterobacteriaceae, which produces carbapenemase and certainly causes the emergence of resistance to investigate the prevalence of colistin resistance among multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant E. coli. The cross-sectional study included 140 swab samples and 200 urine samples that were collected from patients attending Al Imam Al Hussein Medical City in Karbala. The identification of bacterial isolates and the pattern of antibiotic resistance were determined using the fully automated VITEK 2 compact system in addition to the manual antibiotic resistance testing confirmation. The isolates were highly resistant to Ticarcillin (94.4%), Trimethoprim/ Sulfamethoxazole (91.1%) and Piperacillin (87.3%). In contrast, colistin had the lowest (4.2%) out of the total multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains that formed (46.4%) and the extensively-drug resistant (XDR) strains (25.4). Antimicrobial resistance is one of the biggest health problems facing people today. In Iraq, the appearance of colistin resistance (2.8%) among extensively drug-resistant Escherichia coli O157:H7 may lead to failure of treatment, especially among burn and UTI patients. It is urgently recommended to lower the occurrence of antibiotic resistance through cautious antibiotic usage and stringent infection control protocols, which are priorities.