Mohammed Allami - Department of Dentistry, Al-Manara College for Medical Sciences, Misan, Iraq
Eman Mohammed - Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad, Iraq
Faten Alazzawi - Microbiology Laboratory, Qal’at Saleh Hospital, Misan, Iraq
Masoumeh Bahreini - Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

Background: Antibiotic resistance emerged in the pathogens causing urinary tract infections (UTIs) and becamewidespread. Moreover, increasing drug resistance has highlighted the need to evaluate the antibiotic resistancepattern to improve experimental treatment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the bacteria causing UTIsand their susceptibility patterns based on the geographical area.Methods: The present study was conducted on outpatients referred to Qal’at Saleh Hospital in Iraq from January۲۰۱۸ to January ۲۰۱۹. The pathogenic bacteria were detected using API ۲۰E kit. The antimicrobial susceptibilitytesting was conducted using the disk diffusion method according to the guidelines of the Clinical and LaboratoryStandards Institute (CLSI).Results: Of ۲۱۶ isolates, ۸۷.۹% contained gram-negative bacteria and ۱۲.۰۳% contained gram-positivebacteria. In this study, Escherichia coli was identified as the main cause of UTIs. Of all the isolates, ۷۳.۶۱%were resistant to three or more classes of antibiotics. The antibiotic susceptibility and resistance patterns of allisolates showed that amikacin and ciprofloxacin had the highest activity against gram-negative bacteria andvancomycin, amikacin, and levofloxacin had the highest activity against gram-positive bacteria.Conclusions: Due to the widespread resistance to drugs used in the treatment of UTIs, it is difficult to select theappropriate drugs for treating UTIs. UTI affects different age groups; therefore, sufficient knowledge should betransferred to the community to prevent these infections. If urine culture is unavailable, or it is impossible to waitfor antibiotic susceptibility testing, Amikacin and Vancomycin might be the best candidates for UTI treatment.

Urinary tract infections, Drug resistance, Anti-bacterial agents, Multidrug resistance