Virulence Genes Profile of Multidrug Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolated from Iranian Children with UTIs

<div><div><p>Virulent and resistant strains <em>Pseudomonas aeruginosa (</em><em>P. aeruginosa) </em>is one of the most important cause of UTIs in pediatrics. The present study was carried to investigate the frequency of virulence factors in the multi-drug resistant strains of <em>P. aeruginosa </em>isolated from pediatrics hospitalized due to the UTIs. One - hundred and forty three urine samples were collected from pediatric patients suffered from UTIs. Samples were cultured and those that were <em>P. aeruginosa </em>positive were analyzed for the presence of putative virulence genes. Seventy one out of 143 samples (49.65%) were positive for P. aeruginosa. Monthly, sex and age-dependent prevalence were seen for P. aeruginosa. Bacterial strains had the highest levels of resistance against ampicillin (95.77%), gentamicin (92.95%) and ciprofloxacin (81.69%). Of 71 <em>P. aeruginosa </em>isolates, 12 strains were resistant to more than 9 antibiotics (16.90%). The most commonly detected virulence factors in the cases of urethral infections were exoU and plcH while those of pyelonephritis and cystitis were were exoS and lasB. Our findings should raise awareness about antibiotic resistance in hospitalized pediatrics with UTIs in Iran. Clinicians should exercise caution in prescribing antibiotics, especially in cases of UTIs. Such information can help in identifying these virulence genes as useful diagnostic markers for clinical <em>P. aeruginosa </em>strains isolated from UTIs.</p></div>