Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the distribution and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of bacterial strains isolated from patients with community-acquired urinary tract infections (UTIs) at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Kuwait. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted over a 7-year period. Patient information was obtained from medical record files. Antibiotic-sensitivity testing was performed by disk diffusion. E test and double disk diffusion methods were used to study the production of extended spectrum β-lactamases. Results: Of the 14,042 urine samples processed, significant bacteriuria (>10⁵ cfu/ml) was detected in 1,606 (11.4%). The majority (74.5%) of the isolates were from women while the remaining 25.5% were from men. The majority of infections (75%) were due to Enterobacteriaceae, coagulase-negative staphylococci (10.3%) and group B streptococci (8.7%). Among the gram-negative enteric bacilli high prevalence of resistance to ampicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, cephalothin, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole was observed. Increasing resistance to ciprofloxacin and gentamicin was observed in E. coli isolates over the 7 years. Multiple resistance was detected in 53.8 and 41% of E. coli and Klebsiella spp. strains, respectively. No glycopeptide-resistant enterococci were isolated. Conclusion: This study revealed that Enterobacteriaceae were the predominant bacterial pathogen of community-acquired UTIs in Infectious Diseases Hospital, Kuwait. It also demonstrated an increasing resistance to ciprofloxacin, gentamicin and the production of extended spectrum β-lactamase among UTI pathogens in the community.

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Blood isolates of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi from two recently returned Bangladeshi patients in Kuwait were ciprofloxacin resistant, with ciprofloxacin MICs of 12 mg/liter for both isolates. Both isolates had three novel gyrA mutations (55-Leu3Trp, 87-Asp3Ala, and 106-Gln3Arg) and three novel parC mutations (84-Glu3Lys, 106-Trp3Gly, and 128-Tyr3Asp).

This study is the first cytogenetic investigation of healthy relatives of patients with Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN) who were born in nonendemic areas. Characteristics of BEN No. 3 chromosomal anomalies (extremely high frequencies of 3q25 homologue discordance – 68.5 ± (SD) 5.03% vs. 6.65 ± 0.95% in controls, p < 0.001; chromosome breaks at 3q25 band – 0.79 ± 0.25% vs. 0.01% in controls, p < 0.001; structural aberrations affecting 3q25 band), very high frequency of acquired chromosomal aberrations (5.74 ± 0.64% vs. 1.72 ± 0.3% in controls) and a family history with 1 or 2 BEN parents were identified in 5 relatives. It is proposed that they are at high risk for developing the disease and that a genetic mechanism might be involved in the etiology of BEN.

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