Comparison of genetic and drug resistance patterns in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from the burn wound patients using primers 272 and 277

Abstract

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one the main causes of opportunistic infections, especially in subjects with weakened immune systems such as patients with burns. Carbapenems such as imipenem (IMP) and meropenem (MEM) are among the most important antimicrobial drugs which are used to treat P. aeruginosa isolates resistant to penicillin and aminoglycosides. Given that identify the source of contamination and the resulting pattern of isolates resistant transmission in health centers play an important role in the control of hospital infections, the aim of this study was to determine antibiotic susceptibility and genetic patterns of P. aeruginosa bacteria isolated from patients admitted to Qutb al-Din Shirazi hospital. Of 200 samples collected from hospitalized burn patients at Qutb al-Din Shirazi Hospital Shiraz, Iran, 50 (25%) isolates were confi rmed as P. aeruginosa using standard biochemical tests. Antibiotic susceptibility of the isolates was examined through 11 antibiotics recommended by CLSI using the Kirby-Bauer method. RAPD-PCR technique with short primers of 272 and 277 were used to evaluate the genetic relationship among isolates. Of the antibiotics used, the most sensitive was found in gentamicin (50%) and the highest resistances were observed in nalidixic acid (90%), erythromycin (90%), and cefotaxime (90%). DNA fi ngerprinting was able to identify the genetic patterns of 18 and 15 in the form of bands 22 and 17 by RAPD-PCR technique with primers 272 and 277, respectively. RAPD-PCR is a technique for genotyping patterns with high resolution in epidemiological studies and bacterial polymorphism. The results of this study showed that antibiotic resistance in isolates of P. aeruginosa is on the rise and there are different patterns in the hospital wards. The children's ward had just common genetic patterns with other wards of the hospital; this was the result of contamination in other parts of the hospital. Thus, according to the data of this study, there is a serious need to control the sources of infections by physicians and staff when they are working in several sectors in order to control and prevent the transmission of the bacteria.