Prevalence and antibiotic resistance pattern of extended‑spectrum beta‑lactamase‑producing Escherichia coli in clinical specimens

Background: Extended‑spectrum ß‑lactamase (ESBL)‑producing Enterobacteriaceae seem to have an extended antibiotic resistance, but have different resistance patterns throughout different sites and regions. This study aimed to evaluate the antibiotic resistance pattern of ESBL‑producing Escherichia coli. Materials and Methods: One hundred swab samples from patients hospitalized due to a clinical suspicion of any kind of infection (with manifestations such as fever, leukocytosis, and an active urinalysis result) were processed in Alzahra Microbiology Laboratory, Isfahan, Iran. Isolated E. coli were cultured on Mueller–Hinton agar and antibiotic susceptibility was tested by Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion method following the Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute 2017 guidelines. Results: ESBL‑producing samples had higher antibiotic resistance rates than ESBL‑non‑producing samples: ceftriaxone (58.8% vs. 27.3%), cefotaxime (73.5% vs. 30.3%), ceftizoxime (76.5% vs. 33.3%), cefixime (79.4% vs. 40.9%), and cefpodoxime (73.5% vs. 53%), except for carbenicillin (29.4% vs. 48.5%). Imipenem and meropenem were the least resisted antibiotics in ESBL‑producing samples (5.9% and 11.8%). Conclusion: ESBL‑producing Enterobacteriaceae have a high resistance rate to third‑generation cephalosporins and high susceptibility to imipenem and meropenem.