High Prevalence of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Multidrug-Resistant Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-Producing Clinical Isolates after COVID-19 Pandemic, North Iran.

BACKGROUND

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the surge in hospital admissions and widespread use of broad-spectrum antibiotics have heightened the risk of hospital-acquired infections from multidrug-resistant (MDR) organisms, particularly . It is imperative to implement stringent measures to curb the spread of antimicrobial resistance in hospitals and devise robust treatment strategies for patients grappling with such infections. To confront this challenge, a comprehensive study was undertaken to examine MDR extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (MDR-ESBL)-producing isolates from patients with nosocomial infections following the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Iran.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The current study was conducted as a cross-sectional study. A total of 12,834 samples were collected from patients with healthcare-associated infections at four designated corona centers in Northern Iran, following the COVID-19 pandemic. Antimicrobial resistance was determined using standard broth micro-dilution, while resistance genes were accurately detected using the multiplex PCR method.

RESULTS

The results indicated that meropenem and ciprofloxacin had a resistance rate of 100% and 98.2%, respectively, while piperacillin-tazobactam showed the highest sensitivity rate at 54.4%. The frequency of specific genes, including , and , were found to be 100%, 100%, 99.1%, 99.1%, 91.2%, 80.7%, 64.9%, 44.7%, and 37.7%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

In the current study, over 50% of MDR-ESBL-producing isolates exhibited resistance to antibiotics. A combination of antibiotics, including piperacillin-tazobactam and colistin, is recommended for treating extensively drug-resistant infections.