Antibiotic Resistance Patterns of Bacterial Strains in Pediatric Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs).

Abstract

Introduction: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections in children and are increasingly complicated by rising rates of antimicrobial re-sistance. Recent multicenter studies have reported Escherichia coli as the predominant uropath-ogen in pediatric UTIs, with resistance rates to commonly used antibiotics such as ampicillin, cefixime, and ceftriaxone ranging from 50% to 70%. This study investigates the frequency and antibiotic resistance of bacterial strains isolated from pediatric patients with UTIs.

Method: This cross-sectional descriptive analytical study was conducted on 113 children under 14 years of age with UTIs at Imam Khomeini Hospital (RA) in Jiroft city from 2022 to 2023. The data were collected by referring to the medical records of the hospital and using a checklist from the medical records of the studied patients. The data were analyzed using SPSS (version 22) with both descriptive and inferential statistical methods, applying a significance level of <0.05.

Results: Escherichia coli was the most frequently isolated pathogen, responsible for 63.7% of cases, followed by Enterobacter at 19.4%.

Discussion: Notably, alarming levels of antibiotic resistance were observed, with some strains exhibiting complete (100%) resistance to commonly used antibiotics such as ampicillin and cefixime. These findings underscore the necessity for continuous surveillance of uropathogens and their antimicrobial resistance patterns to guide evidence-based therapeutic decision-making.

Conclusion: A comprehensive understanding of regional epidemiological trends is imperative for clinicians to optimize antibiotic stewardship programs and mitigate the escalating public health challenge of multidrug-resistant pathogens in pediatric urinary tract infections.