Antimicrobial susceptibilities and clinical characterization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from urinary tract infections.

INTRODUCTION

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a uropathogen that is mainly involved in nosocomial infection. The aim of this study was to analyze the antimicrobial susceptibilities and clinical characterization of P. aeruginosa isolates from urinary tract infections (UTIs).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study collected all P. aeruginosa UTI strains from a hospital in Chongqing, China, from January 1st, 2010 to December 31st, 2011. The antibiotic susceptibilities of the P. aeruginosa isolates were analyzed using the agar dilution method and the genotypes were assessed using random amplification of polymorphic DNA-PCR (RAPD-PCR). The clinical characteristics of the patients with UTIs were collected from the hospital information systems, and significance was analyzed using the proportion test.

RESULTS

A total of 2,778 episodes of culture-proven UTIs were used in the study. There were 198 infections (7.1%) caused by P. aeruginosa. P. aeruginosa strains were highly resistant to most drugs tested. The RAPD-PCR data revealed that the 198 P. aeruginosa infections had 82 different genotypes. Antibacterial use, previous UTI, urinary tract catheter and urinary tract operation were found to be risk factors for the development of UTIs.

CONCLUSIONS

P. aeruginosa is the second most common UTI pathogen in our hospital. We should closely monitor patients with risk factors for P. aeruginosa infection.