Abstract
Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are very common worldwide. Such an infection is usually treated
with empirical antimicrobial therapy. However, there are trends of increasing rates of antibiotic resistance. The
aims of this study were to determine the most common bacterial causative agents and their antibiotic sensitivity
pattern in women suffering from UTI in Duhok, Kurdistan, northern Iraq.
Methods: Urine samples were collected from 371 subjects afflicted with UTI and inoculated directly on blood
and MacConkey agar and then incubated at 37°C for 24 hours. Bacterial colonies were determined by standard
culture and biochemical characteristics. All isolates were tested for their antibiotic susceptibility.
Results: The vast majority of the isolates were Gram-negative and only 2 (0.5%) of them were Gram-positive.
The highest infection by Gram-negative bacteria belonged to Escherichia coli 276/371 (74.4%) and about
74.2% of which were resistant to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid. Additionally, around 65% of the isolated E.
coli were resistant to ceftriaxone, ceftazidime, and cefepime. It was found that the Pseudomonas strains were
resistant to ceftazidime (42%), ertapenem (75%), and ciprofloxacin (50%).
Conclusions: There were increasing rates of antibiotic resistance especially in E. coli. Urgent measures are
needed to contain such a resistance pattern and a plan for continuous surveillance is required to monitor
antibiotic sensitivity pattern.