Antibiotic resistance of coliform organisms from community-acquired urinary tract infections in Zenica-Doboj Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To collect routine susceptibility data for coliforms isolated from patients with community-acquired urinary tract infections (UTIs) in Zenica-Doboj Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina and to relate them to bacterial identification and patient demographics with a view to guiding empirical therapy. METHODS: During 1998-2001, 54 638 consecutive urine samples were analysed by standard procedures. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing for 15 antimicrobials was performed by the disc diffusion method. RESULTS: A total of 10 765 Escherichia coli and other coliforms were isolated, of which 5043 (46.8%) were duplicates. Resistance rates were significantly higher in duplicate isolates for almost all antibiotics tested (P<0.05), except for ampicillin, cefazolin, aztreonam and co-trimoxazole. Inclusion of coliforms other than E. coli (25.8%) significantly increased resistance rates for all tested antibiotics (P<0.001) except imipenem. Overall coliform resistance rates were significantly higher in males than in females (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Due to high ampicillin and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole resistance rates for all subsets analysed it is highly recommended to perform urinalysis and antibiotic susceptibility testing in all patients, except in the age group 0-6 years of male patients and in the age group 20-64 years of female patients, in which empirical therapy with these antibiotics can be applied. Nitrofurantoin should also be considered as the first-line therapy, especially in children. It is important for physicians to know susceptibility data for UTIs in order to optimize the use of empirical therapy.