PREVALENCE AND MOLECULAR DETECTION OF ESCHERICHIA COLI FROM PATIENTS WITH URINARY TRACT

Abstract

The emergence of Escherichia coli associated with urinary tract infections (UTIs) is a serious public healthcare problem globally, causing frequent morbidity and even death due to limited therapeutic options. This study investigated the prevalence and molecular detection of Escherichia coli from patients with Urinary Tract Infection in State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri, Borno State Nigeria. The urine samples of 400 patients were obtained from State Specialist Hospital Maiduguri and were cultured for significant bacteriuria. The E. coli isolates were identified and confirmed using standard microbiological procedures, Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, respectively. This study identified 7.5% prevalence of E. coli isolates in urinary tract infections patients with higher proportion among the females and 7 (23.3%) of the isolates showed the presence of Beta heamolysin production. The findings in this study further emphasizes the need for antimicrobial stewardship with one health approach which will provide timely data for effective antibiotic treatment policy, necessary to preserve the efficacy of antibiotics that are commonly used for the treatment of patients with urinary tract infections