Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) is the major etiological agent of urinary tract
infections. The objectives of this study were to evaluate E. coli isolates from these patients
for the phenotypic pattern of antibiotic resistance and to detect the genes responsible for
virulence namely fimH, hlyA and usp. A total of 110 E. coli isolates were studied and 30
antibiotics were applied for susceptibility testing. PCR detection of the genes fimH, hlyA
and usp was done followed by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. The results showed
that the isolates were highly resistant to cephalaxin (100%) and cephradine (100%) but
displayed high sensitivity to amikacin (96.27%), Imipenem (92.63%) and Meropenem (92.63%).
The prevalence of fimH, hlyA and usp was 86%, 83% and 16%, respectively. The sequencing
showed 99% similarity with previously reported sequences in NCBI GenBank database.
The co-existence of multiple drug-resistant bodies and virulent genes has important
implications for the treatment of patients with urinary tract infection. This study provides
information about treating drug-resistant E. coli and the relationship of virulent genes with
phenotypic resistance patterns.