Features of urinary <i>Escherichia coli</i> isolated from children with complicated and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in Mexico

The Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez (HIMFG) is a tertiary care hospital in Mexico City where Escherichia coli is frequently isolated from the urine samples of pediatric patients with urinary tract infections. A collection of 178 urinary Escherichia coli (UEc) isolates associated with complicated and uncomplicated urinary tract infections were evaluated in this study. The patterns of resistance to 9 antibiotic classes showed that 60.7% of the UEc isolates had a highly multidrug-resistant (MDR) profile. Genetic diversity analyses of the UEc isolates showed a high variability and revealed 16 clusters associated with four phylogenetic groups, namely, groups A, B1, B2, and D. Phylogenetic group B2 was widely associated with the 16 clusters as well as with virulence and fitness genes. The virulence and fitness genes in the UEc isolates, which included fimbriae-, siderophore-, toxin-, and mobility-associated genes, were grouped as occurring at a low, variable, or high frequency. Interestingly, only the papF gene could be amplified from some UEc isolates, and the sequence analysis of the pap operon identified an insertion sequence (IS) element and gene loss. These data suggested pathoadaptability and the development of immune system evasion, which was confirmed by the loss of P fimbriae-associated agglutination in the UEc isolates. E. coli clone O25-ST131 had a prevalence of 20.2% among the UEc isolates; these isolates displayed both a highly MDR profile and the presence of the papGII, fimH, papGIII, iutD, sat, hlyA, and motA genes. In conclusion, the UEc isolates from complicated urinary tract infection (cUTI) were characterized as being MDR, highly genetically diverse, and associated with phylogenetic group B2 and many virulence and fitness genes. Additionally, gene loss and IS elements were identified in some UEc isolates identified as clone O25-ST131.