The Prevalence of Virulence Genes and Virulotypes of Escherichia coli Strains Isolated from Hospital Wastewaters in Tehran, Iran

Background: Due to the widespread different pathogenic strains, Escherichia coli lead many severe to normal dis-eases worldwide. Finding the relation of clones with genomic content and clinical features is a key point to recog-nize the high potential-invasive strains. Specific virulence factors include adhesions, invasions, toxins, and capsule are the main determinants of pathogenic factors of E. coli strains. Methods: From Jun 2014 to Jun 2016, E. coli isolates recovered using standard bacteriological methods from wastewater sources in different hospitals in Tehran, Iran, were monitored to recognize the virulence genes by pol-ymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. Results: The high and low presences of virulence factors were fimH, 76% and afa, 13%, respectively. Conclusion: The results indicated the potential pathogenicity of E. coli strains circulating in hospital wastewaters in Tehran, Iran.