Genetic diversity in clinical isolates of Escherichia coli by enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)–PCR technique in Sanandaj hospitals

Background and Objectives: The Escherichia coli strains are greatly important in nosocomial and community acquired infections. The aim of this study was to determine the transmission of bacterial infections using genetic analysis. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and thirty Escherichia coli strains, isolated from different clinical samples, were characterized by enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)–PCR technique. The results and the similarity between the strains were determined on the basis of Jaccard similarity coefficient in the SAHN program of the NTSYS-pc software. Results: The ERIC–PCR profiles allowed typing of the 230 isolates into 205 ERIC-types which were grouped into twenty main clusters (C01–C20).The first group makes up 4.34% of the total isolates. Out of the 230 isolates, 34.2% belonged to D phylogenic group which were associated with extra-intestinal samples. Conclusion: Our results showed high diversity in E. coli isolates indicating low rate of hospital infection in our university hospitals. The majority of the isolates belonged to the D phylogenic group.