Frequency of S and A fimbriae in Escherichia coli isolated from urinary tract infections in teaching hospitals of Qazvin (2012-13)

Background: Escherichia coli (E. coli) is the major cause of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in hospital settings. Attachment to the target is the essential step to colonization of this organism in human host. S and A fimbriae are important virulence factors causing urinary tract infection in uropathogenic E. coli strains. Objective: To determine the frequency of S and A fimbriae encoding genes in uropathogenic E. coli isolated from patients admitted in teaching hospitals of Qazvin. Methods: In this descriptive study, 126 E. coli isolates were collected from urine samples between 2012 and 2013. All isolates were identified using standard laboratory techniques and further evaluated for the frequency of sfa and afa genes using PCR and sequencing methods. Findings: In total, 37 (29.4%) and 13 (10.3%) isolates were positive for the presence of sfa and afa genes, respectively. The afa and sfa-positive isolates were mostly collected from patients admitted in intensive care unit (5 isolates, 4%) and internal medicine (23 isolates, 18.3%) wards, respectively. Conclusion: The findings showed a considerable rate of sfa and afa virulence factors in urinary E. coli isolates. According to clinical importance of this virulence factors in establishment and progress of urinary tract infection, using useful treatment strategy is essential for eradicating of this pathogen in studied hospitals.