Community Acquired Urinary Tract Infections’ Etiological Organisms and Antibiotics Susceptibility Patterns

[Objectives]This study aimed at estimating the prevalence of bacterial strains isolated from patients with community acquired urinary tract infections (UTIs) and comparing the antibiotic susceptibility patterns among different genders.[Methods]This prospective study was conducted between June 2011 and August 2012 in Iran, Tehran, on patients referred with symptomatic UTI. Midstream samples were taken and sent to the laboratory. The bacterial resistance was determined in patients with proven UTI by the Kirby Bauer’s disc diffusion method. Data were stratified by age and gender.[Results]A total of 762 individuals were included in this prospective study, from which 573 (75.1%) were female and 189 (24.9%) were male patients. The most prevalent pathogen in different age, gender, inpatient and outpatient groups was Escherichia coli. The E. coli isolates were significantly higher in females compared to males (P = 0.03). High prevalence of resistance was observed against nalidixic acid (77.9%) in male patients, while amoxicillin (74%) was the most resistant antibiotic in females. However, the highest sensitivity was observed against imipenem in both male and female groups (97.9% and 97.2%, respectively) with no significant difference among them (P > 0.05).[Conclusions]To date, this is the first study to determine the distribution and antibiotic susceptibility patterns in patients with UTI in Iran. This study showed that E. coli was the leading bacterial pathogen of community acquired UTIs in Iran, Tehran. An increasing resistance to first line antibiotics for UTI pathogens was also indicated, which emphases the need to improve empiric treatment.