@article{Ahmad Hamad_Khadija_2019, title={PREVALENCE OF BLATEM, BLASHV, AND BLACTX-M GENES AMONG ESBL-PRODUCING KLEBSIELLA PNEUMONIAE AND ESCHERICHIA COLI ISOLATED FROM THALASSEMIA IN ERBIL, IRAQ}, volume={11}, url={https://www.mjhid.org/mjhid/article/view/2019.041}, DOI={10.4084/mjhid.2019.041}, abstractNote={<p>Due to the recent appearance of organisms that are resistant to several drugs (multidrug-resistant) like Enterobacteriaceae that produce extended-spectrum ?-lactamase (ESBL, concerns have remarkably increased regarding the suitable treatment of infections. The present study was an investigation into ESBL molecular characteristics among clinical isolates of <em>Klebsiella pneumoniae</em> and <em>Escherichia coli</em> resulting in UTIs and their pattern of antimicrobial resistance in order to come up with helpful information on the epidemiology of these infections and risk factors accompanied with them. In order to conduct the study, 20 <em>K. pneumoniae</em> and 48 <em>E. coli</em> were isolated and retrieved from thalassemia center in Erbil, Iraq during July 2016 and September 2016. The collected strains were analyzed and the profile of their antimicrobial susceptibility was specified. In order to spot ?-lactamase genes (i.e. <em>bla</em>TEM, <em>bla</em>SHV, and <em>bla</em>CTX-M), polymerase chain reaction was conducted. The results obtained from multiplex PCR assay showed that out of the collected strains of ESBL-producing <em>E. coli</em>, 37 had 81% <em>bla</em>TEM, 16.2% <em>bla</em>SHV, and 32.4% <em>bla</em>CTX-M genes. Similarly, 64.7% <em>bla</em>TEM, 35.2% <em>bla</em>SHV, and 41.1% <em>bla</em>CTX-M genes existed in the isolates of<em> K. pneumoniae</em>. It was found that antibiotic resistance pattern of <em>E. coli</em> and <em>K. pneumoniae</em> isolates to 20 antibiotics varied widely. It was also concluded that the majority of the <em>K. pneumoniae </em>and <em>E. coli</em> isolates were multi-drug resistant (MDR). Moreover, 75% and 87.5% of respectively <em>K. pneumoniae</em> and <em>E. coli</em> isolates showed the MDR phenotypes. TEM prevalence was high among other types of ESBLs. Over all, the most active antimicrobial agents <em>in vitro</em> remained to be the carbapenems.</p>}, number={1}, journal={Mediterranean Journal of Hematology and Infectious Diseases}, author={Ahmad Hamad, Pishtiwan and Khadija, Khalil Mustafa}, year={2019}, month={Jun.}, pages={e2019041} }