High Prevalence of Antimicrobial Resistance in Gram-Negative Bacteria Isolated from Clinical Settings in Egypt: Recalling for Judicious Use of Conventional Antimicrobials in Developing Nations

This study was designed to investigate, at the molecular level, the antimicrobial resistance mechanisms of different antimicrobial resistance genes, including, extended-spectrum β-lactamases, AmpC β-lactamases, class 1 and 2 integrons, and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes of Gram-negative bacteria isolated from clinical settings in Egypt. A total of 126 nonduplicate Gram-negative isolates were recovered from different clinical samples taken from hospitalized patients in Egypt in 2014. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed that, 93.6% (118/126) of the isolates had a multidrug-resistant phenotype. Interestingly, we reported a high level of antimicrobial resistance nearly for all tested antibiotics; to our knowledge, this is the first report from Egypt indicating very high level of antibiotic resistance in Egypt. Polymerase chain reaction screening and DNA sequencing revealed that, 75.4% (95/126) of the isolates harbored at least one extended-spectrum β-lactamase-encoding gene, with bla _CTX-M being the most prevalent (65.9%), followed by bla _SHV (46.8%). The AmpC β-lactamase, bla _CMY , was detected in 7.1% (9/126) of bacterial isolates, with bla _CMY-42 being the most prevalent. Class 1 integrons were detected in 50.8% (64/126) of the isolates, and class 2 integrons were detected in 2.4% (3/126) of the isolates. The plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance gene, qnr, was detected in 58.7% (74/126) of the tested isolates, with qnrS being the most prevalent. Several antimicrobial resistance determinants were identified in Egypt for the first time, such as SHV-27, SHV-28, SHV-33, SHV-63, SHV-71, SHV-82, SHV-142, CMY-42, CMY-6, and the new CMY-72 like. This study highlights the importance of the conscious use of conventional antimicrobials to overcome the multidrug resistance problem.