Epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance of toxin-producing clinical isolates from children admitted to the oncology chemotherapy center in Mofid Children's Hospital in Tehran, Iran: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

() is the second bacterial cause of nosocomial infections in the general population after . This study surveyed the frequency of cytotoxin-producing strains of and their antibiotic susceptibility profile in a cohort of children admitted to a referral hospital with different malignancies.

METHODS

The Stool samples of children admitted to the Cancer Chemotherapy Unit of the Mofid Children's Hospital, Tehran, Iran were analyzed using conventional biochemical tests and polymerase chain reaction targeting the gene to identify . The antibiotic susceptibility profile of isolated against commonly prescribed antibiotics used in treating infection at the facility was determined using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion technique. Also, the prevalence of genes encoding toxins among was identified by PCR assay.

RESULTS

The Stool samples of 280 participants were taken for the study of which 38 samples [(55.3% (21/38) 42 males and 44.7% (17/38) females)] tested positive for various spp. Out of this, was identified in 2.5% (7/280) stools using cultures and conventional biochemical tests. Also, the stools of 2.9% (8/280) of the participants tested positive for using PCR assay. Using PCR, (2/7) of the isolates tested positive for the and genes and were identified as toxigenic strains.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of toxin-producing strains in stool samples of children diagnosed with cancer in Iran is relatively low. Most of the isolates were susceptible to tested antibiotics. Globally, active surveillance of toxigenic strains in patients with different malignancies or immunocompromised patients is recommended in healthcare settings.