Molecular characterization of multiresistant enterobacteria in two departments of the Peruvian jungle

Introduction. The emergence of multiresistant enterobacteria producing extendedspectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) in outpatients with urinary tract infections represents a public health problem in Perú. Objectives. To characterize multiresistant enterobacteria isolated from patients diagnosed with urinary tract infection in two Peruvian jungle departments using molecular techniques. Materials and methods. We conducted a descriptive, observational, and retrospective study of 61 urine culture isolates from two departments in the Peruvian jungle during 2017-2018. Resistance profiles were identified using the MicroScan™ automated system and a conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for the detection of blaCTX-M, blaTEM and blaSHV genes. Results. The most common positive ESBL enterobacteria for each department were Escherichia coli in Madre de Dios (10/40; 25%) and Ucayali (16/21; 76.2%). Gene blaCTX-M was the most prevalent in both departments (25/61; 41%), followed by blaTEM (15/61; 24.6%), and blaSHV (10/61; 16.4%). As for the antimicrobial susceptibility profile, we detected resistance levels of 72.6% for ampicillin, 82.3% for cephalothin, and 88.7% for nitrofurantoin. Conclusions. BLEE-producing multi-resistant enterobacteria strains in both departments were 57.4% and blaCTX-M was the most common gene.